Thespian Pledge:
“I promise to uphold the aims and ideals of the International Thespian Society. I am a student of theatre, and excellence is my ideal. I promise to perform my part as well as I can; to accept praise and criticism with grace; to cooperate with my fellow Thespians and work for the good of the Troupe; and to share my love of the theatre.”
I am a registered Thespian. This means I have completed the prerequisites required of the International Thespian Society in order to be accepted into a Thespian Troupe. The quote included at the top of the page is on the back of my Thespian card. In all honesty, it's been a long time since I've looked at it. I earned it in ninth grade, so it's dirty and faded, but still readable. The night of my initiation seems like it was only yesterday: Myself and my fellow inductees sat outside the auditorium dressed all in black, not allowed to speak a word. We were then blindfolded, and led up on stage. The officers of Troupe 6945 then read the official transcript of the International Thespian Society to us; and at the end we repeated a pledge. This may sound rather odd, and a bit scary, but trust me, it was a lot of fun. That night signified my completion of 100 theatre hours, and acceptance into a society of performers. Over the next three years, I immersed myself in all things theatre, and came out of it with a very substantial amount of knowledge.
Throughout the years, I have participated in countless plays, musicals, drama classes, and theatre conferences. It all began in sixth grade, with my first non-school play, The Last Gladiator. It was a Newport Children's Theatre production and I was an ensemble member, meaning I had no lines. When I began my relationship with drama, it was something I did because my best friend, Lucy, did it. Reciting lines in front of a group of strangers can be daunting, and those first few plays most certainly were. As the years went by, however, I found myself enjoying the thrill of performing more and more. Once I got to high school, I was a full fledged theatre kid.
I was too nervous to audition for the fall play my freshman year. It was A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. I did end up working backstage for the show, as a techie. I moved set pieces on and off the stage, dressed all in black, trying to be as quick as possible, much like a ninja. I loved watching the show from the wings. The actors were like superheroes to me, so confident and composed. They could deliver page long soliloquies with the greatest of ease. I knew this was the place for me. So, in the spring, I auditioned for the musical, Pippin. I did not get cast, but I was a techie again, very typical of a freshman. I learned a great deal about the behind the scenes aspect of a show that year; which further enriched my theatre experience.
Another crucial part of my theatre education was conferences. Throughout the year, there were several of these for high school students around the state, and also the Northeast. A typical day went like this: You arrive with your Troupe, and then are given a name tag with a specific color and shape on it. These represent your group for the day. It was a chance to meet new people. There were workshops to go to; things like “Introduction to Puppetry,” or “Stage Makeup 101.” All different branches of theatre to sample buffet style. Also you could perform for adjudicators. Either contrasting monologues, a group scene, musical theatre, mime, or even presenting your lighting, costume, or set designs from a show, were options. The adjudicators rate your presentation and provide written feedback. Those who receive the highest score, a Superior, are eligible to go the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. The ITF is a week long conference, but with even more workshops, and also full length shows that were selected from high schools around the country. I attended this festival my junior year, and it was spectacular. A theatre kid's heaven. What these conferences did was introduce me to the world of educational theatre, and all of the areas that encompass it.
I learned much of what I know about drama from experience. Simply participating in so many productions gave me a solid base of knowledge. But I also learned from my theatre classes. We were taught acting techniques and exercises that allowed us to become more comfortable on stage, and with ourselves as actors. It's something you have to practice, like an instrument or sport. I believe some people have an innate ability for acting, but most of us have to work at it. It's not easy to “go there.” Actors will know what I mean when I say, “going to that place.” What it is is exposing yourself emotionally to your audience; in a nutshell. It's scary, yet empowering. Out of all of the realms of theatre I have participated in, acting is the most frightening.
I never had a starring role in any productions in high school, but I was always a part of the shows. Usually I was onstage, but my junior year, I was assistant director for the fall play.The previous year in my Acting Ensemble class, my teacher, Mrs. Arthur, noticed I had a certain flair for directing. We would often watch each others monologues and give constructive criticism. Perhaps it was a culmination of my hours spent watching theatre, but I was very good at picking out the small discrepancies in someone's movements or speech. I could see what needed to be done in order for the message of their piece to be clear. I went on to student direct the fall play, A Piece of my Heart, which was about servicewomen of the Vietnam War. From working backstage, to acting, to directing, I became very well rounded in those four years.
Drama is a vehicle for communicating human experiences. Plays create a unique connection between actors and their audience; a shared feeling and understanding. I have been in a deep and committed relationship with theatre for about eight years, and I can say with confidence that I have expertise. My level of involvement may vary from year to year, but it will always be a part of my life. I will continue to carry out my duties as a member of the International Thespian Society as long as I live.
Thespian Motto:
“Act well your part; there all the honor lies.” -Alexander Pope
KianaAnderson
There is a blue sign that catches the eye when you make the turn off of the busy road into my quiet and unfinished neighborhood. “THIS IS A CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT”, it reads in bold white character that often leaves residents and visitors alike wondering what a cluster development actually is and why it is worthy of a sign so blue. It was not my choice to live here. If it were up to me I would have chosen the already finished house, with a fancy pool in the backyard, and plenty of neighborhood kids my age to play flashlight tag with. But at the time, I was only fifteen and unable to foresee the opportunities that lay in the new cluster development I now call home. Making friends in the neighborhood was out of the question. At the time my neighbors are either grown with their own kids, or they had a bedtime of seven o’clock and a solid grip onto their binkies for comfort. But what was once a predicament is now who I am today, for this blessing in disguise was my opportunity to become an expertise babysitter.
Before the move, when I was twelve, my father signed me up to take the Red Cross babysitting course. At the time, this course seemed to me to be the longest day of my life. We had to sit in a room and listen to our instructor go on about CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, and how to change a diaper from about seven in the morning until five o’clock at night. But once that day was over, I was a true Red Cross certified Babysitter. With one days training I could be trusted with children of all ages, in theory.
Business was booming. People trusted me with their kids because I am generally friendly in character and I had my certification to ease any worried folks. I began babysitting nearly weekend after that. One family in particular took me in and even had me nanny throughout the summer. I was naturally good at it! Kids liked me because I would play with them instead of watching television all day. We would play pretend; good guy versus bad guy, monster versus alien. But my favorite activity was playing with chalk when the weather was agreeable. I could change diapers like a pro and make almost anything into a game. The hardest part for me discipline.
I found discipline uncomfortable for a good chunck of my babysitting career. After all, I was merely a babysitter and I wanted the kids to like me. But the kids I began to babysit are like family to me now. I see them all of the time and the parents have been so supportive of me over the years. I was in. This babysitting job had evolved into another home for me. I felt so comfortable with these kids and in their home. Because of all of the time that I was spending with the kids, their parents began to expected me to disipline when necessary. I'm not talking about anything severe, just timeouts and a stern talking to if the kids were horribly misbehaving. I had to toughen up a bit, something I had never considered a quality of a good babysitter, but I do now. I learned to be stricter by watching the kids interact with their parents. I knew how they expected their kids to behave and what behavior was absolutely not dismissable. Time outs for temper tantrums and a stern talking to for purposefully not listening. I was a bit afraid that the kids would not like me as much once I became more authoritative, but to my surprise not much changed. I could still be fun without the kids getting out of control, in fact it earned me some respect. Even though I played a little bit of a different role as babysitter, I was still in a weird way, a part of this family.
The hours that I have spent babysitting over the years have gone undocumented but I am nearly positive the time I have dedicated to babysitting qualifies me as an expert. I was lucky enough to find a base family to help be become a better babysitter over the years through experience and observation. I have become a little stricter, this is true. My tolerance for back talk and rude remarks has deflated, but I still love to babysit. It for sure has taught me responsibility but I have also learned somethings about discipline. Somehow I have found the balance of disciplining without becoming the bad guy, and I think this will be a useful tool for me in the future when I have kids of my own. I know when to use it and when not to use it. Babysitting is all about feeling out the situation and deciding how to act, because whatever you do will influence the children's lives. That is why discipline was an important skill to learn as a babysitter to up my expertise.
SaraBuckley
“I p-pledge alliance… BLEH I mean, ALLEGIANCE to the flag uh-of the United States of America…”
So, this was me as a third grader. Reciting “The Pledge” on the loud speaker was the most exciting thing for all the students at Clintonville Elementary School, except for me. Being the girl who stuttered when she read out loud and was too shy to even stand in front of the class, I was completely terrified. I have struggled with reading aloud since the very beginning. I would jumble up my words, my face turned the shade of a ripe tomato, fidget with my hands, and even break out into a sweat. Safe to say, speaking in front of the entire school was not my cup of tea.
In school, this was my “fatal flaw”. I would cringe every time the teacher would call on me to read something. After my name was called, the rest of the class would sigh with disapproval. Holding back tears, my face turned a shade of red from the embarrassment. I would struggle through the paragraph and finish with so much relief that it was over. However, I never understood why I had so much trouble. In my head reading was fine. I actually enjoyed it! I wouldn't stumble on phrases or mess up. I was in my head where no one else could judge me.
I was so embarrassed by my poor public speaking skills. So, my mom signed me up for third grade theatre. I received the part of a main ensemble dancer in The Wiz. I was very comfortable with this because I had danced my whole life. Then, the next year, I was given the supporting role of a brother in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. I was so impressed with myself because I had three whole lines! However, the following year, I received the role of Maureen, the Hen, in Honk Jr. I sang my own song and everything! I became a “ham” and was one of the leaders of the drama department!
I continued theatre throughout elementary and middle school. It helped me gain confidence with speaking in front of others. My phrases had fluency and were properly articulated. I became an entirely different student. I was no longer timid in class. I raised my hand to read things aloud and did not feel constantly embarrassed anymore. Sure, I still mess up occasionally and struggle with messing up words when I’m in front of a lot of people, but I just shake it off and try again. I hope to one day consider reading out loud a personal expertise. However, it is very unlikely. I will most likely always have a little trouble reading in front of large groups, but at least, now, I have the guts to get up and try.
JuliaCohen
What is expertise? According to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary, it is being an expert or having a lot of skill in a certain field. I, myself, am not good at much, but ever since I was young, people have always told me that I have a way with children. When I was younger, I would love to play with babies and as the years went on, my love for children grew. I started being a “mother’s helper” when I was around 10 years old and then from there it went to babysitting. I found that I understood them in a way that many others couldn't. Children to me are fascinating. For this reason, and many more, I decided to become a teacher. I hope that my broad range of expertise in this subject will help equip me for my job years to come.
This kind of expertise that I possess has proven to be very useful over the past 13 or so years of my life. It all started when I was maybe 5 years old and my mom introduced me to a new born baby. I was fascinated with how small she was and how adorable, so I sat and played with her all day. I was the only one who could make the baby stop crying and she loved when I played peek-a-boo with her. As I grew, I was constantly introduced to new babies, and everyone used to tell my parents how great I was with the kids. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out each child and what made them "tick". I would say to myself, "this child is crying? Okay... why? Try talking to them about it. That didn't work? Okay, now try distracting them." Each child was different and with every new child, i learned a new strategy.
I have found that the reason i find education so interesting, is not only because you are expanding minds and continuing history, but it is also a challenge. Teaching a new student is much like trying to make a baby stop crying. Sometimes, they learn right away, but other times you have to keep trying different strategies until it finally clicks. Some people say that teaching is monotonous. i would say that only bad teachers experience monotony, because for every new approach to a subject that a teacher may try, the more intellect they gain on that topic. Plus, the students keep it interesting by always finding new ways to go about topics that may not have even crossed the teacher's mind. I have learned a great deal from my time working with children, and i like to think i understand children much better from having so much experience with them beforehand.
I have found that the secret to being good with kids is that you have to treat them as equals. I am the youngest of all of my cousins, and I have a HUGE family. When I was born, one of my cousins had already graduated high school. Since I was so young, I was always talked down to and hated it. The key to making kids like you is to treat them the way that “young you” would want to be treated. I know that for babysitting, for instance, you have to create a persona that you are their superior, and that is fine! But, there is no need to talk down to them all of the time. Even for an 8 year old, that is degrading. After all of my experience babysitting, running kids events at my beach house, tutoring, and teaching skiing lessons, I hope that i have benefited and am more prepared for my future work with children in a classroom.
Kids are tough. Sometimes being stern is the only way to get them to listen, but I like to think that I have mastered this art, some may even call me an expert. I enjoy the way that a child’s mind works. I like to think of it as growing and very impressionable. I have seen children with broken homes, parents that neglect them, and children that are just misunderstood. My mother being a teacher has helped me realize what I feel that I am meant to do in life… help children, just like my mom does. I hope that one day I can make what I already do often, into a paying job.
MeaganCoon
Meagan Coon
Personal Expertise
My personal expertise is something I unfortunately have not practiced in a very long time. It is something I have loved since my childhood and hopefully plan on doing again in the future. This sport and my expertise that I love so much is riding horses.
When I was five years old and I told my mom that I wanted a horse she just laughed. I continued to tell her this almost every day for the next nine years and eventually, it worked. There is a lot more to this story though. Throughout my life I have always loved horses. She put me into summer camp when I was five and at the end of the day I would cry when I had to leave. I continued with camp until I started doing riding lessons and also got a job with a family friend cleaning her barn and caring for her horses. I held that job from age eight until the week before I left for college. I started cleaning stalls at a local barn as well interning for riding time and lessons. Horses have always been a passion of mine and this is why I consider them my expertise.
During my 4th and 5th grade summers I got the opportunity to lease a horse names Tess. Leasing a horse essentially means I had to pay for her care but I could ride her and take her to shows whenever I wanted. She was a very old Arabian show horse and I referred to her as a push button horse because she always knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and almost never acted up. She was easy to work with and easy to show but after two years I wanted more of a challenge. I got to lease Anna a five year old Saddlebred, the spring that I was in 6th grade. She was a very young horse for someone my age to be working with, especially because she was still in training. I loved Anna because she had so much energy and she barely knew how to walk, everything was always at a fast pace. We trained together for months until the summer showing season. I rode Saddleseat, which is a form of English, but it is not very common in the northeast.
I do not know how much a common person knows about riding English. In Saddleseat the saddle itself is longer on the sides and flatter. The bridle has two bits, the pieces of metal that go in the horses mouth. The first is skinnier and helps hold the horse’s headset correctly, the second is thick and more for the actual control of the horse. There are also two separate reigns , the smaller has to be held in between the pinkie finger and ring finger. It is a much more intricate style of riding and also more old fashioned and more upbeat. Some classes require you to rack, which is a fast paced movement only some Saddlebred horses have been trained to do.
I remember my first show with Anna like it was yesterday, it was a small local show just to start out. We were in a small class of about four girls, two of them I knew from my own barn. We walked slowly into the ring stopping at the rail once we entered. We started at a walk again, then trotting, the cantering then the same in the other direction. I was doing everything I had practiced. Posting to the steps of Anna’s trot, holding her back with a strong grip at the canter because of her ridiculous amount of energy. There were so many things running through my head but the most important things were to smile and stay confident; Anna could tell when I was nervous. We went through four different classes that day, equitation, pleasure, command, and showmanship. Each class we were judged on a different aspect of our riding. At the end of the show the championships were announced. I had won my division, something I thought was impossible to do at my first show.
Despite my excitement, problems arose with winning a championship, even at a local show. Other horse owners from the area had seen my performance with Anna and because I did not own her they started making offers to my trainer. At the time no one would tell me because I was only in the sixth grade. Soon the rumors started to surface and I was devastated, but fortunately my parents had heard them as well. They bought Anna for me and surprised me a few days later when I came home from school. It was the best gift I have ever received in my life and I cried..
I owned Anna for four years after that. We continued to show and continued to win classes and championships for the next three show seasons. I consider horse back riding my personal expertise even though it is something I want to continue working on. It is not just something I know a lot about but something I truly love. I had to sell Anna the beginning of my junior year of high school. Her expenses started to grow and I had much less time because of my job. Letting her go was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but I will always be grateful for everything I learned from Anna and from riding horses throughout my childhood. Riding horses is a sport that takes a lot of trust, patience and determination and those are things I plan to apply to my everyday life.
AllisonCorey
Personal Expertise Statement
When I came to URI last year as a freshman, I was very timid and shy. It was difficult for me to go out of my comfort zone to make friends and to live in a new place without my family. That spring, I decided to do something totally out of my norm and apply to be a tour guide. After the strenuous application and interview process, I got the job! I was so proud of myself but I knew that what entailed to be a tour guide was going to be more work than one might think. Being a tour guide, having confidence, and public speaking is my personal expertise something that I am truly passionate about. It is something that I am continuing to work on to be the absolute best tour guide that I can be.
I first got interested in the job because it was advertised all around campus. I wanted to be involved more in school and become a part of something bigger than just my schoolwork. My first semester went well I just knew something was missing. I knew that this job was going to be a challenge for me because public speaking was something I struggled with but it was a task that I wanted to overcome. Also, my roommate was doing it and at the time it seemed like I couldn't do anything without her. After applying and getting the job, it was the best decision I have ever made.
All of us new tour guides were trained for months before we were allowed to go out and actually give tours. We were also given a manual. That manual became my Bible. I was so obsessed with learning all of the information about the school because I wanted to be absolutely prepared when my boss would question us at our trainings. I honestly spent more time with my tour guide information than with my schoolwork. Once we completed our training, I felt so confident and nervous going out on my first tour.
Once I actually went out on tour for the first time, I felt so comfortable and confident with my knowledge about the school. All of the hard work and memorization paid off once I returned to the Memorial Union when I completed the tour. All of the people who were on my tour applauded me because I was a freshman knowing all of the information. They all filled out evaluation forms with various positive comments about my tour and my personality. Going out and getting this reinforcement from complete strangers boosted my confidence as well as my public speaking skills. As a result, I made a lot of new friends with my new attitude being more outgoing and friendly. I wanted to befriend everyone that I met some being tour guides and some being people I met in my classes or on my floor. This made my experience at URI my freshman year much more enjoyable. I felt more at home at this new place with a new outlook, new friends, and a new job.
I know that my tour guiding skills will benefit me in the future. I have learned and am continuing to learn how to public speak. Public speaking is a necessity in various fields as well as being a college student. I know that this skill will help me in my future with schooling as well as my profession. Also, tour guiding has transformed me from the shy freshman to the more confident sophomore. Being a tour guide as my expertise has benefitted me in so many ways and I am grateful that I am able to be a part of something so big on campus that has helped me discover who I truly am.
BayleeDiMarco
I’ve never really sat down to think about what I could be called an “expert” at. Dictionary.com defines an expert as “a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field.” I don’t have any special skills and I’m not overly knowledgeable in any particular subject. Personally, I think that to be an expert at something, one has to have continually dedicated hours upon hours to a specific hobby or interest. Some people are experts at sports, or music, or academics. My expertise lies within none of these categories. If I had to label myself as an expert at something, I would say that I have mastered the art of helping people.
I have been lucky as far as my family life goes. I have two parents who care for me and love me unconditionally. Unfortunately, they stopped loving each other. This was about five years ago when I noticed their marital problems. It was only a little more than a two years ago when they decided they were going to file for a divorce. My little brother, twelve at the time, did not see this coming. He struggled with it for the longest time. My junior year of high school was hard for me as well with all that was going on at home. My parents still lived together, but slept in separate rooms. This close living space led to many disagreements and verbal fights. When my parents would argue, my brother would shut down. He would run to the playroom and break into tears. These fights affected me as well, but I focused my efforts on staying strong for my little brother. I would comfort him with hugs and calm reassurance that everything would get better soon. Helping my brother cope with my parents’ divorce made me feel like a better person. Helping him actually helped me.
My desire to help others extended to my friends. I have never been the type of person to stick with a cliquey group of friends. Instead, my friends came from all different places and walks of life. I specifically had this one friend, Casey, who struggled a lot with everything. Her mother had been battling Multiple sclerosis (MS) for years, which in turn, led her father to take out his stress by physically abusing Casey. With all this going on around her, Casey began to doubt her own worth as a person. Casey's low self esteem then led her to abuse prescription drugs and self-harm I never wanted her to feel like she had nobody on her side. I offered her my support as much as she would accept and made sure that she always had someone there for her. Helping Casey and being alongside her as she recovered made me feel like I had purpose. I was a positive influence in her life when she needed one. Later when I was dealing with my own personal issues, Casey was there for me. She reminded me that she owed me for always being there for her. This just reassured me that I really did make a difference in her life. My helpfulness had visible results.
I also shared my expertise in helpfulness in an academic setting. My senior year of high school, I took AP Physics. This was my favorite class ever and I was a deep learner and always wanted to fully understand the material that was presented. This led to many days after school with my wonderful teacher, Mr. Levesque. There were always many students from my AP class, as well as regular physics students staying for extra help. On days where students swarmed Mr. Levesque, I would volunteer to help them out if I could. I would put my own questions on hold and answer those of the physics students. When I explained concepts and worked through example problems with them, it would actually help me better understand the material. If I could explain it, that meant I really knew it. I would also stay after school with my AP Physics lab group and other groups and help my fellow classmates work through homework problems if I knew the solutions. Helping other students also gave me visible results when I saw that their homework and test grades would improve. I get great satisfaction from seeing others benefit from my help.
My acts of helpfulness extended beyond family, friends, and peers to random strangers who I’ve never met before. Performing random acts of kindness always gives me extra satisfaction. Just knowing that I could have single handedly made someone’s awful day significantly better makes me feel good about myself. Simple acts like holding the door for someone or picking up something I saw someone drop take little time and have great benefits. Seeing a friendly genuine smile every once in a while just proves that my helpfulness is being appreciated. Being appreciated makes me feel good and accomplished.
To be an expert certainly does not mean you are all knowing, or perfect in any way. I would never consider myself perfect, or an expert, but I do think that one area I excel in is helpfulness. I think that a special skill that benefits oneself and others is the best type of skill to master. A skill like this takes just as much commitment, time, and patience to be mastered. I look at my helpfulness as one of my best assets.
HalleGoldberg
Every person has something they’re good at, a talent. Some people have many talents. It is typical to be judged or categorized based on your talent. The talents we are born with or acquire over time can help us throughout lifehether it is with a career or learning essential skills due to that talent. One of my talents, which I value very much, is a talent that I acquired over time. Playing soccer was always an important part of my life it was something that did not come easy to me.
My family is very athletic.My grandpa and father both played sports their entire lives and coached for many years. My grandpa was an amazing soccer player throughout his childhood and college career. He inspired me to play soccer at a young age. When I started playing at age four, I barely wanted to touch the ball; I was always running away from the action. I absolutely hated it. After that, I stopped playing for a while, being that I was so terrible. At some point I started playing again. My father and grandpa were determined for me to be a great athlete. They worked with me day after day and taught me the basic skills I needed to know. After all that hard work, I finally won MVP defense player at age 10.
When it came to club soccer tryouts, I was extremely nervous. My town is very political when it comes to sports. Unfortunately, the players usually make the team for all the wrong reasons. All I wanted was to make the “A” team. Finally the week of tryouts came, I felt confident and left the field each day being very proud. I remember when I got the phone call from the coach, he had told me I made the "A" team. I automatically started crying tears of joy. I did it. I accomplished something so very important to me.
As I got older, I continued to play and I continued to feel more confident in my skills. In middle school, I did not make the 7th grade team. I was devastated, but I knew it had nothing to do with my performance. I did not let it stop me; I became manager for the team that year. The following year, I made the 8th grade team and then preceded to try out for a different club team. This team was not in my town so I was away from all the politics that were against my chances. Ironically, the team was a year older than me. I made that team and found a place very easily.
High school soccer was very rough for me. I was at a disadvantage because all the other girls played for my town’s club team. I didn’t enjoy playing with the girls from my town. I didn’t have passion for the sport when I played with them like how I did when I played on my club team. I made the team that year but I barely played. The next year, almost all of the girls made the varsity team while I was stuck on the junior varsity team. It was a blessing in disguise. I was the leader of that team. I was the captain and role model for the rest of the girls. I had an amazing year playing on that team. We were division champions and I couldn’t have been happier with where I was.
Playing soccer throughout my life has taught me a lot. I learned to never give up and that you can do anything you set your mind to. One of my favorite coaches always said, “Practice makes permanent.” It doesn’t make perfect because no one and nothing is perfect. That saying is something that I have carried for years. I proved so many people wrong and I showed my true strength. Everything happens for a reason you just need to believe it.
SamanthaKaiser
I woke up in the middle of the night over spring break with panic and nervousness. I needed to find a summer job and I absolutely couldn’t wait another second. The thought of waiting till the last minute before summer break began and having a bank account perpetually at twenty-four dollars made my stomach cringe. I hopped onto Craigslist and searched through sketchy advertisements and offerings. I eventually came across an ad for “Boston Neck Pizza” for a part-time delivery/phone girl position. Not really my style, but I thought it was kind of cool and there was a number to call ASAP. I woke up the next morning and left a message with my future boss and mentor, Maria. The late night scramble for a part-time and easy summer job evolved into a skill that came not so naturally, but made me feel good about myself. Overtime, I became an expert employee at Boston Neck Pizza.
After working at Boston Neck for two months, Maria offered me an opportunity that changed my desired career path and showed me how rewarding working in a restaurant can be. Joe, the manager at Boston Neck, and Maria began to train me as a pizza cook. I immediately felt stressed. Assembling a simple cheese pizza, something I originally looked at as mundane and easy, was a disaster. I spilled sauce, used too much cheese, and don’t even mention the ovens. I was absolutely terrified to stick my precious, delicate skin inside that oven to place the pizza down on the brick. The worst part was that I hadn’t even gotten to the more difficult stuff. Specialty pizzas were my nightmare. I couldn’t remember what toppings went where and how much I was supposed to use. Every night I was scheduled, there was a designated learning period. I was to practice with the ovens, which I was embarrassingly slow at, assemble pizzas with quickness and accuracy, and also interact with customers who entered the store. I wasn’t the best by far, but I was a hard worker and overcame many of my fears to become better. As months continued on, I searched for more advice about how to become better. Joe, an expert himself, showed me all the shortcuts and ways to make my job simpler. He taught me the tricks and ways to be quick and pizza witty when business got tough.
My biggest breakthrough happened when my boss, Maria, left the country for two weeks. I was required to step up my game and work my hardest to pick up the slack while Maria was away. For the first time, I began to open the store on my own, prep vegetables and meats, and interact with customers (and cook their food!) with speed and sincerity. Over the two weeks that Maria was gone, I felt more confident and sure about my skill set. It wasn’t until she returned, that she gave me the news that I was ready to work alone during the week. Joe told Maria how proud he was of my hard work and acquired skills and they allowed me the opportunity of cooking full time.
By the time August rolled around, I knew every nook and cranny of Boston Neck. I understood the cash register, the oven, pizza assembly, and most importantly, customer interaction. But oh, believe me. This was no easy task. Many bloopers took place and if my life was a movie, it would be quite hilarious.
I would not have become an expert pizza cook if I had not completely screwed up and learned from my mistakes. My first night closing the pizza store, I accidentally turned the temperature knob on the oven, which due to age, no longer had the temperature readings on them. The main oven was completely off temperature. No one knew what the original temperature was and we were all in the dark as to what to do. Eventually, the whole temperature device was replaced. On another extremely busy night, the store received a call back while I was working. A man claimed that I ruined his pizza. He told me that his pizza was burned, tasted bad, and that he was lucky to find green peppers on it. He destroyed my self-esteem that night when he ended the conversation by saying that, “[I] will be the reason the business will go down the drain”. My heart was broken, but I woke up the next day complaining and reviewing it non-stop, but I eventually realized that my mistakes could only make me better at what I do...and hey, Maria hadn't fired me after all of my mistakes, so they must've liked me over at BNP.
Answer the phone; write the order, and grab a pizza, two scoops of sauce, one big handful of cheese spread evenly, ten steps to the oven, 15 minutes or so, and wahlah! A beautiful cheese pizza is made. Working at Boston Neck Pizza has made me into an even more hardworking and successful human being. I have learned to work towards expertise and perfection. I know how to problem solve in the restaurant and I know how hard efforts pay off, especially when I wanted to give up. My mistakes have made me better at what I do and I would not trade it for any other skill, except maybe baking. Everyone loves good cake.
VictoriaKern
Personal Expertise in Gender
Something I care a lot about and am constantly working on getting better at is learning about gender. I am a feminist, or a person who wants equity because groups of people are being subjugated because of who they are. I am truly passionate about my Gender & Women’s Studies major (GWS) because the information I have learned about feminism has changed my life. The more I know about gender studies, the more enlightened and empowered I feel, so I hope to teach feminist theory to young people one day as my career. My expertise in gender studies is constantly growing as I observe and reflect on society using a feminist lens. I have learned about gender in my internships, through independent reading, and classes.
One of the most influential internships I have participated in is the Peer Educator program in the Women’s Center at URI. I have only been a Peer Educator for about a month, but I have already grown so much in my knowledge of violence prevention on college campuses. As a Peer Educator, I give presentations to URI 101 classes about how to be an effective bystander. I teach the freshmen about stalking, partner violence, and sexual violence. I do this so that they can recognize warning signs of these three types of power-based personal violence and be able to step in if they decide it is safe to do so. I have grown so much as a person by doing URI 101 presentations. I have gained confidence in my teaching abilities and hope in my ability to make a difference in the world. I know that there are people in my audiences who have been personally affected by acts of power-based personal violence, so I am so grateful to be able to show them ways to heal. Being someone who supports those impacted by gender-based violence has been a huge step in my process towards become an advocate of all oppressed people.
Another way I have gained expertise in topics related to gender is through reading, discussing, and reflecting on ways gender stereotypes impact the way people live. One of my main resources for information is everydayfeminism.com. Everyday Feminism is an electronic magazine with articles on self-worth, sexuality, body image, violence, work, parenting, gender, the LGBTQ community, race, and class. In addition to Everyday Feminism, I read scholarly articles about gender-related research studies that interest me. I engage in meaningful discourse about gender with the gender club on campus called Students for the Advancement of Gender Equity (SAGE). By meeting with other people my age and talking about gender, I am able to learn about other peoples’ perspectives on current feminist thinking and grow my personal knowledge base. When I am alone, I think about fun ways to engage young people in feminist discussions and dream of having my own high school classroom where I can get students excited about feminism.
The last way I gain expertise in gender studies is through my academic classes at URI. In the past, I have taken courses on women in international social movements, gender inequality through a sociological lens, diversity in film, and violence prevention. In each of these courses I have learned the fundamental ways of thinking for feminists. Having a shared language, or knowing the same definitions for key terms, is imperative if one wants to be part of a social movement such as the feminist movement. I have also learned how to put feminist theories into action by doing service work and interviewing experts in the field. This semester, I am doing my honors project on the gender-related topic of marriage, which will further enrich my studies. I will be analyzing my family’s letters from three generations of marriages in which the men were in the navy and the women were at home raising children and maintaining the household. By using feminist research methods, I am going to continue to grow as a feminist thinker and scholar.
The more I learn about gender, the more I am interested in the topic, which is why I have some expertise in the area. Not only do I study gender in my classes, but I partake in internships and do my own independent research that complements what I learn in the classroom. Knowing about feminism has drastically changed my world view and made me into the person I am today. My primary motivator in learning about gender is enabling other people to be their true selves. By continuing to practice learning and teaching about feminism, I will be able to share my expertise with others and play an important role in the feminist movement.
IleanaLaGrutta
Ileana LaGrutta September 24, 2014 EDC 102H A Personal Expertise Statement
Everyone is good at something; everyone has a certain “calling” in life that is truly what they are meant to do. I could speak about how I’m an expert on the game of basketball but I do not want to bore everyone with yet another basketball story. I’d actually much rather focus on writing. I understand that this is kind of ironic claiming that I’m an expert on writing when indeed I am writing a paper right now, but I’m going to go for it anyway. I am not going to sit here and pretend that I am the best writer in the world. In fact, I know that I am not. I fully understand that my rough drafts usually are a little bit shaky and could use some revising. However, I have learned a lot over the past few years about writing that I believe has made me an expert on this topic. More specifically, I believe that I am an expert on creative, or informal, writing.
During my Junior and Senior years of high school I took two creative writing courses. These courses have provided me with the necessary tools to continue on to higher education. During Creative Writing, a huge focus was on the college essay. I drafted my college essay probably close to twenty times and each time I learned a little more about writing than I already knew. First, when creatively writing, it is important to defy the traditional structure. Gone are the days where you should have an introduction of 4-5 sentences, a body paragraph or two between 5-10 sentences and a conclusion of 5-6 sentences. Sure it is definitely important to have an introduction and conclusion but what you do in between is totally up to you. Structure is reserved for formal writing and it should definitely be utilized then, but in terms of creative writing, anything but the norm is highly encouraged.
Along with defying structure, I have also learned that dialogue is your friend. As my teacher would always say, “show, don’t tell.” Instead of telling the reader that it was hot out, you could throw in dialogue between two people expressing how absolutely disgusting it is outside in the mid July heat. To take it one step further, you could even physically describe the characters to convey your point. Showing, rather than telling, is an extremely important component of creative writing. With that being said, I am going to say with confidence that I can take a story that I have lived through, and put it down on paper while still conveying all of the excitement that occurred exactly when it was happening. I also believe that I can take my expertise and apply it to the future.
There is not going to be much room for creative writing in college, however I do have plans of becoming a guidance counselor in the future. One major component of the profession is writing letters of recommendation for students. No college wants to receive a mundane letter simply listing all of the positive attributes of the student being described; they do not want it to be a laundry list of extra-curriculars. These colleges want to read something that is out of the ordinary, and I believe that my expertise in creative writing will be able to do just that. My letters are not going to be cookie-cutter letters with an "insert name here" format, but rather they will be personalized according to each student and their strengths and weaknesses. After all, it was my creative college essay that got me into college, so who’s to say that my creative letters of recommendation cannot help other students get into college?
My personal expertise is definitely creative writing. Whether it is “showing, not telling” incorporating dialogue, or defying traditional structure, I know quite a bit about the subject. Informal/creative writing is something that I enjoy doing thoroughly and it is a skill that I will be able to take with me throughout my entire life.
RebeccaLelli
Rebecca Lelli
American Education
23 September 2014
Personal Expertise Essay
I really do not consider myself an expert at anything, I feel that I am really more of a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of person. However, if I had to pick one I would say I favor reading over any of my skills. Reading has been a joy to me ever since I was two years old, demanding "read book" to my Nonna, and she patiently read to me for hours on end. Perhaps it's because I have such an active imagination that I like to read so much. I imagine what it would be like to live in different worlds and think what I would do in the situations that different characters face. Mostly I like to read fiction to pull myself out of whatever reality I am facing and dive into a world born of a creative author's mind. But occasionally I find non-fiction topics that interest me and I enjoy reading about that as well. Whatever the situation in my life, I have always considered myself to be a very good reader, though perhaps not an "expert" if such a thing exists.
Many teachers in my early schooling would count the number of books you read by putting a sticker next to your name for each one. If you read 25 books by the end of the year, you could go to the ice cream party. I made it my mission to read as many books as possible by the end of the year, not because of the ice cream but because I am very competitive and wanted my line of stickers to stretch farther than anyone else's. There has been a psychology debate that offering rewards for reading dulls the interest in reading, and maybe it did for some kids, but not me. I just kept wanting to read more and more, excited by the cover of each book to discover the story inside.
One summer I checked out about ten chapter books from the library, but I could not decide which one to read first. So I lined all the books up and read the first chapter from each one before moving to the second chapter of each one. Needless to say, I was seriously confused by the second round. I kept forgetting what each book was about, and thinking certain characters belonged to the wrong book. Having discovered I had been too ambitious, I returned to reading one book at a time, a little disappointed that I was incapable of handling ten.
Now this is not to say that I loved every book I read. In fact, many of the books I read I hated, especially the ones that teachers assigned us to read. If I had to read a chapter from I textbook that I found boring, I read ten times slower than I usually did and absorbed less of the content because I was falling asleep! And I never understood why English teachers had such a fascination with Edgar Allen Poe. A creepy guy who wrote about murder and dismemberment many years ago has absolutely no appeal to me whatsoever. I will admit, on occasion some teachers would have us read something that interested me, but it was so rare that it seemed to be almost a miracle whenever it actually occurred.
In order to get better at reading, I had to challenge myself. I read books with some words that I did not understand, but I discovered what they meant based on the sentences around them. Some historical fiction books in particular were hard to understand, because they made references to things that were no longer relevant in this day and age. But I actually enjoyed the process of figuring out what something new meant. The most difficult books were long novels written in many years past. For example, when I was twelve I struggled through Little Women, because I felt a lot of the scenes dragged on needlessly. However, if I were to read that book now I am sure it would be much less difficult because I have grown in my reading. I also like to help a little girl I babysit with reading because she struggles with it (being a math and science type personality). She does not enjoy reading the way I do, but I figure if I can make it easier, she will dislike it less.
Someday, I hope to be able to read from bland textbooks and still be able to extract meaning from them. I realize that I can always improve on patience and concentration, which will improve my reading. Perhaps I will incorporate my love of reading into a job someday. Even if people hate reading, they can always be read to. I do not know anyone who does not love a good story. I know that if I have expertise in anything, reading would be my most distinguished talent.
SamanthaLindquist
Jewelry Making
Have you ever seen something so intricate or beautiful like a ring or bracelet and wondered how it was made? That was the first thing I said before I learned and taught myself how to make jewelry a few summers ago. Now I say it is one of my best skills.
It all started with the camp I went to as a child, it was called Summer Trails Day Camp in Somers, New York. At this camp there were many activities that changed daily, things like basketball, nature, project adventure and boating. Certain things happened daily like morning meetings with the whole Upper Grove, grove is what they called each section and there were three of them, and swimming twice a day, the morning was instructional and the afternoon was the free swim. One thing that happened once a week was Jewelry with these sweet older ladies that were the wives of the camp owners, Jewelry was my favorite thing to do a Summer Trails, because it was the only thing other than Arts and Crafts that let out my creativity. We made so many things over the years I went to that camp from rings to bracelets with soda tops to chocker necklaces to earrings that I still wear. Jewelry became the best thing for me in Summer Trails because it was something completely different and enjoyable.
So after I worked at Summer Trails for a summer I forgot about my love of Jewelry for a little while since I had school work to think about. After that time I remembered when my mom and I were on a beach in Cape Cod, we saw a woman making different Jewelry sets while she was lounging in the sun and it made me want to do it again. With that my mom and I went to AC Moore in my hometown and bought a case for the beads and a whole treasure trove of beads for me to work with, but one thing was still amiss, I did not really know what I was doing and need to get better guidance on how to make more intricate things. This was when my mom found me a teacher, a kind woman who knew how to make some of the most amazing looking jewelry I had ever seen, things I wanted to do the minute I saw them. Patty was her name, and Patty taught me most of what I know now.
I think I’m good at it or at least I like to think that way. Everyone seems to enjoy what I make and put together for them. Since it has become my creative outlet there has been a lot of positive support for my jewelry, which I have made.
In the future I want to keep doing this and making everything I love. I have plans to sell some of it hopefully this winter break or next summer, online. There is a website called Etsy that you can have an online store for your handmade crafts that everyone will see if they search what you make like Wire crochet necklace or handmade pokeball hat, or anything else you can think of. I hope to make a store for myself and hopefully make money doing another thing I love.
MelanieMertens
Do you know how it feels to flip through the air in the hope that you will land on your feet? I do. I began taking gymnastics lessons when I was nine and since then, I have been hooked. I have participated in gymnastics at the recreational, preparation optional competitive, and high school competitive levels in that time. Now, nine years later, I can look back on all the key parts of my learning experience for the sport and recognize the good and bad teaching methods and imperfections that can be made. Some of the most essential parts of gymnastics are knowledge of required positioning, the use of equipment, and how to perform the skills required for each level. If one does not find the balance between these elements, they may become injured and fearful of the sport itself. All my years of experience participating in and watching gymnastics have made me an expert on this sport and all that goes into it.
In gymnastics, positioning is key. If your body isnot in the right position when attempting a skill, you may injure yourself and in some cases,the person who is spotting (assisting) you. I know from many experiences that if you hesitate, don't push away at the right angle, or simply maintain the wrong body position in a skill you many injure yourself. One example of this happened a few years ago when I attempted a round-off back-handspring back tuck on the trampoline strip. I began my skill planning on completing the back tuck, halfway through I decided not to go, but at the last second I decided I wanted to flip. As you may predict,this did not end well and I ended up landing on my neck. Although I received no major injury from this experience, I heard my neck crack as I landed on it and even since have had a stiff neck. It is experiences like this which create fear of skills in gymnasts like myself, but despite injuries based on positioning mistakes, we are all told to get up and make our best effort to do it right again.
Most people would think the equipment used for gymnastics is just bars, beam, vault, and floor, but it is quite the contrary. There are many more pieces of equipment used in the sport such as the trampoline strip or "tumble track" aforementioned. The four basic equipment pieces are the main pieces used for competition, but there are many others used for training throughout the year. Unless you are a gymnast, I presume you have never heard of a "mat stack," "eight inch," or maybe even tumble strip. All of which are essential in the learning and practice of many skills in gymnastics. When you learn to vault, you first learn on a mat stack - an organized pile of mats stacked to the height the table will be at when you vault. This provides gymnasts with a chance to learn how to place their hands and control their bodies when the time comes to use the actual vault. An "eight inch" is a mat that is eight inches thick and is used for all the events whether it be a dismount mat, or a softer landing on floor, it is required in the sport. Finally, tumble strips are a strip of floor which leads into a foam pit. This may be used for learning new skills on floor, generally those which include flipping so one may add the flip to their tumbling pass before they have corrected the landing timing. All the equipment in gymnastics is essential for the safety of the gymnast and is what stands between them and a major injury. Knowing how to be safe while in a somewhat dangerous environment is very important, this is why young gymnasts are instructed on the rules of the equipment and surrounding areas within their first gymnastics class.
Finally, there are the skills that a gymnast must actually perform. For any level of gymnastics,there is always that goal you are working towards; a new skill to be achieved. Even in preschool classes, there is a set skill level a child must approach in order to be able to move up to a beginner gymnastics class. These standards are set at recreational levels by the gym owner, and at higher levels by the state, national, and even international competition levels. Although increasing one's skill ability in gymnastics may seem impossible at first, over time the gymnast learns the mindset required to achieve near perfection taking into account their body positioning, what they are trying to do on the equipment, and thinking how this may be achieved. In many cases,I have been told by coaches "envision yourself doing the skill in your head." This technique allows for a gymnast to think about the skill they need to perform and by being positive and visualizing oneself, the gymnast may see in their head all the things they need to do in order to avoid injury. These methods have attributed not only to my gymnastic career, but also to my everyday life. I am now able to use the same approaches that I did to learn new skills in gymnastics to help me envision and achieve goals in my everyday life.
Nine years and many seasons of gymnastics meets have gotten me here. I am (for the most part), an expert at gymnastics. My experience as a gymnast has given me the the knowledge I need to succeed in gymnastics and help other gymnasts succeed. Although I may not compete or even really practice gymnastics anymore, I now know what it takes to achieve skills and put my best foot forward in this sport. Because of gymnastics, I have experienced many injuries, but that never stopped me from pushing on and trying new things. My overall learning experience from my time as a gymnast taught me the importance of mindset, persistence, and self confidence which are all qualities that sound be passed on to future generations.
MadelineMucci
There have been very few things I've felt actually confident about doing well throughout my life, but one of those few things is art- namely, ceramics. Since I started working with clay in elementary school I have felt very good about it and have always excelled.
My best friend, Natalie, used to be very involved in a local art studio called Escape to the Arts. One summer in maybe fifth or sixth grade, she asked me to join a pottery class with her and I figured it would just be a fun thing to do and joke around in. I ended up falling in love with clay and being able to manipulate something however I wanted to and create something new that didn't exist before. After this short summer class that I got a few small plates and bowls out of, I honestly forgot about ceramics until my sophomore year of high school. I always drew and painted on my own, so I was still involved in art, but I think because classes working with clay weren't offered in my elementary and middle schools, I looked at my class at Escape to the Arts to be a sort of temporary and short-lived hobby.
My friend had taken a ceramics class with a supposedly crazy old teacher, and told me it was incredibly fun and that I should take it. So I signed up, remembering how much fun it had been years ago. As soon as the class started I was reminded how much I loved it.
This supposedly "crazy" teacher was actually an extremely talented, passionate, and eccentric woman who had been working with clay for 60 out of her 63 years. The only times she ever became crazy or angry were when people took her class and assistance for granted and weren't serious about it. And if I had been doing something I loved for my entire life, I'd be pretty upset if someone were to waste my time as well. Her name is Mrs. Allen, and before she grew to become one of my best friends by my senior year, she was the most helpful instructor I've ever had.She taught me how to hand build with clay- something I hadn't yet learned since I had only ever worked on the wheel. Mrs. Allen was surprised to see how quickly I picked up the skills, and so was I.
The best times I had with Mrs. Allen were helping her load and unload our kiln in class. Watching how careful she was with everyone's pieces, no matter how good or bad they were and no matter how much she liked or disliked the student who made them. It proved me to the level of respect Mrs. Allen had for everyone around her and especially for her art form. Additionally, considering the kiln took up the majority of a tiny closet, we spent a lot of time in very close quarters and really got to know each other. I was also pretty honored that she chose me out of my class of about 30 to help her with such a delicate and important task. It sparked our friendship that continues today. She taught me how to hand build with clay- something I hadn't yet learned since I had only ever worked on the wheel. Mrs. Allen was surprised to see how quickly I picked up the skills, and so was I.
The greatest part about art and clay specifically is that there's no such thing as a permanent mistake. Every faulty stroke of a tool or twist of the hand can be easily fixed or even turned into something new. I've been able to start off with a mug I hated and manipulate it into a beautiful honey pot and vase on several occasions. It's the most comforting and stress relieving activity I've ever done, simply because there is no wrong answer and no ugly result. Someone will like anything you make in ceramics because everyone has a different aesthetic. I think the reason I became so good at ceramic building so quickly is because I care about it so much. Many people around me in my Ceramics 1 class had just signed up for it to get rid of their art requirement (a tactic that frustrates me beyond belief). So of course someone is going to be frustrated when their task at hand is difficult and they don't actually care about it but are forced to put in the work. I excelled because I was absolutely in love with the clay, my tools, our strange but fun breathing and relaxation exercises before we worked, and being able to work with my hands in the middle of an otherwise reading and listening based school day.
My favorite piece I've ever made is a little mug that fits perfectly in my unusually small hands. Tea is my favorite drink and I have a habit of collecting many more mugs than I need (I brought six to college because I couldn't leave my favorites behind). Anyway, it was the first mug I've ever made, and in the beginning of making it, I hated it. It was a little crooked and I thought it was too short and I didn't like my handle because it was too wide. But I had yet to ever give up on a piece of mine and didn't want to start. So I spent about three weeks trying to "fix" the mug and make it perfect before I realized that maybe it didn't need to be fixed. Mrs. Allen's entire personal aesthetic was based off of asymmetry and the beauty in earthly imperfections, and while mine had always been about perfect lines and curves and colors, perhaps I had something to learn from her "go with the flow" attitude toward art. This was difficult for me because I have never been a "go with the flow" person in any aspect. I've always needed concrete things with concrete meanings and I've always needed to have concrete feelings about everything. But this little chubby mug helped me realize that sometimes it's okay to love something imperfect and give it the same attention that I would something that fits my standards of beauty and acceptance. So instead of trying to straighten the sides of my mug and make it perfect, I started to carve a design into it. I ended up turning it into a bit of a honey pot/tree mug. The outside of it has the lines and curves of tree bark and is a dark brown, and the inside is a worn-looking golden yellow. The yellow "honey" looks as if it is overflowing from the inside of the mug and dripping down the tree bark and the handle. I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen and it ended up being the mug that everyone in my class loved the most. My friend Julia who was in my class said to me "you always hate your work and then it comes out perfectly." This was a huge lesson for me. I learned that eventually, I'll make everything work out because I have the dedication and skills to do so. I just need to have people, or artistic media, around me that will be flexible and bendable enough to work with me.
I went on to take advanced ceramics my senior year and to YPP for Mrs. Allen (a YPP is a teacher's assistant) and help her make clay during the periods of the day in which she didn't have a class. I even went to her house one day after school to help her garden and to see her home clay studio. I think the bond I had with this woman really enhanced my relationship with ceramics and my artistic side in general. My advanced ceramics class was absolutely incredible. I was one of only eight students to take the class, and we were allowed to make basically whatever we wanted as long as we used the skills we were taught that week by Mrs. Allen. Everyone in the class took ceramics just as seriously as I did, and I actually had competition in being the best in the class.
The best feeling I have ever experienced is bringing home a mug I have made in ceramics and being able to use it for tea and hot chocolate. The feeling of something I made being incorporated into my day and fitting perfectly in my own hands is inexplicably satisfying and comforting to me.
I have recently signed up for a pottery class that starts this Wednesday at the South County Art Association, because I can't go any longer without working with clay or I may lose my mind. It's my only outlet for stress since I had to stop running my junior year, and I can't wait to start it again. If I could, I would honestly make a career out of ceramics, but the clay and studio and kiln are far too expensive to afford on my own. Instead, I plan on making this a life-long hobby of mine and at least ending up with a small studio in my house. I want to share ceramics with everyone around me because it is an art form that anyone can love and do well in. I hope that the more formal setting of the Art Association will strengthen my skills and help make my plans about pursuing clay work in the future more concrete.
VictoriaPetit
In my hometown, I am known as ‘the black belt.’ As nice as it is to feel recognized, I cringe at the way it sounds. To me, taekwondo is so much more than being a black belt; it is my way of life and my passion. The fourth degree black belt I wear around my waist during class is just a symbol of the journeys I have been through to find myself. I am not only a black belt, but I am driven, dedicated, and determined.
I like to think of my training as a journey, solely because the word ‘training’ complies with the physical aspects of the sport and leaves out the mental and emotional parts. My journey began when I was three years old. I don’t know what sort of discipline most children at that age are exposed to, but I can surely say that my upbringing was a bit unique. I learned that it is important to listen to your elders, or else. No one—especially not me—ever tested to see what would happen if rules were not obeyed. It was some sort of code of respect that was practiced but not necessarily understood.
I was in great physical condition from going to taekwondo three times a week, every week, year after year. There were an abundance of bumps and bruises along the way, and as I got older, several broken bones. I tend to reason that you give some and take some, and I would break those bones all over again if it meant that I got to keep the lessons I learned. I never would have the confidence I have today if it weren’t for taekwondo.
Not everyone has what it takes to become a martial artist, but I knew deep down that I did. My master was from Korea and he had six stripes on his black belt. I admired him greatly for it; six out of nine possible stripes symbolized intense will power and many obstacles, but most of all: success. I wanted to prove to myself that I could achieve greatness too. I put in the work by attending class more frequently and spending one-on-one time with my master and fellow students.
I did have some natural ability in taekwondo but I was never the best. My best friend, Joseph, was always faster, bigger, and stronger than I was. He was—and still is—my inspiration. We have different strengths and weaknesses and we often would work together to better ourselves and each other. Taekwondo is mainly an individual sport, but we united.
I have been training for about fifteen years. There has been a moment of weakness or two where I have wanted to give up; taekwondo takes a toll on the mind and body. It is taxing and time-consuming. Many people earn their black belts and give up. I am eternally grateful that I stuck with it to this day. When I was fifteen years old, I became the youngest fourth degree black belt in the United States Taekwondo Association. I sprained my wrist during the first part of the test, and finished the week after with a cast on in front of the Grand Master of the USTA. I represented my dojang nationally by achieving this rank at such a young age. That was the best day of my life. I learned that hard work pays off and that anything is possible with passion and perseverance.
I still practice taekwondo when I am home, and I got to expand my wisdom even further; for the past two years, I have had the pleasure of teaching the younger students in my dojang. They call me Instructor Victoria and I call them my Littles. They are my pride and joy, and I get to watch their journey as my master and elder peers watched me. I get the opportunity to instill good values in them at a young age; it is the taekwondo chain of events.
Once you get to a certain level of expertise, the cycle continues by passing your knowledge to the next generation. It is beautiful and almost unbelievable that I could make a difference in the lives of children as my mentors did for me. Teaching children, along with continuing my own training, makes me appreciate taekwondo and how it has shaped my life every day.
RyanSmith
Personal Expertise Statement
My main non-academic passion is playing soccer, which is something I know how to do well. About two years ago, I started watching professional soccer. My good friend from high school had been a fan, so I tagged along in watching a game on an occasion. Overnight, I fell in love with the sport. Professional soccer is on the rise in the United States, and it felt great to become part of the fan movement. Of course, the urge to play in addition to watching was inevitable. It was only a year later that I was playing on my high school’s varsity team, enjoying every step of the way.
Naturally, the athletes I watched play the beautiful game inspired me. I would watch players like Ronaldinho dance through defenses and run outside and try to duplicate his moves. I began to dedicate countless hours to trying to play like my professional idols. I would try to make it outside at least once a day so I could practice everything I saw the pros do on television. I have vivid memories of sweltering summer days being spent practicing each skill repeatedly. I can remember setting up cones in the poring rain, and taking touches with both the inside and outside of my feet to weave in and out between them. The time I spent practicing was indispensable to me. Certainly there could be no better way to spend my time than by training to be like my idols, all the while getting exercise.
Although soccer is my passion, I am by no means a great player. Expertise implies ability near perfect, and I would be lying if I said I was an expert soccer player. Without a doubt I strive to be the best that I can be, and improving consistently is something that I will always be able to do. However, I wasn’t the star of my high school team nor do I see myself as the star on my current intramural team. However, the desire to want to improve and the joy the sport brings me motivate me to keep training. As the legend David Beckham once said, “Soccer is a magical game”.
AdamSokolowski
Everyone seems to have a skill that they seem to do better than most other people, for some people its playing an instrument, for others it's understanding and doing math problems. For me however, it is being able to absorb and retell information and facts about subjects such as sciences. Every since I was in elementary school I can remember loving learning about science which over the years evolved into me enjoying learning about the science subjects and spitting out information that I had learned. This was especially reinforced during tests when I always quickly and accurately answered questions on the exams with far less effort than my peers. This gave me a prominent vision of using what I was good at in the future ad wanted for my whole childhood life to be a scientist, even if I didn't know which one. Because of school and positive reinforcement from my teachers as well as other outside figures both fictional and non-fictional I grew to love the subject and pursue a career involving it in the future.
Ever since elementary school science was my favorite subject. learning about how the earth worked in earth science and how our bodies and ecosystems worked in biology really made me exited about learning. I can remember watching shows like Dexter's laboratory, and Jimmy Neutron made me picture myself as a scientist working on crating new machines and having similar adventures as them. I also learned about real people and other great scientists such as Nicholas Copernicus and Charles Darwin and was fascinated by them and what they did to the world. I don't know for certain when this interest in science really developed because I always remember having it. Even my Mother can remember asking me what I wanted to do when I grew up to hear some cute cliche childhood career like astronaut or veterinarian. She was shocked to hear a third grader say that he wanted to be a paleontologist or a marine biologist to study the shark's Ampullae of Lorenzini which was a sharks electroreceptor system. I believe that my whole childhood was a accumulation of outside sources that contributed into my interest of science.
I can only remember loving the subject of science more and more as the years went on because of each one of my science teachers. I can always remember having a few bad Math, English, or History teachers but never a bad science teacher. Every teacher I've ever had had seemed to love what they do and the subject and all seemed to be just a little bit crazy and exiting which only fueled my growing interest and love of the subject. In high school was one of the first times I ever struggled with a science class which was AP Chemistry. My teacher for that class, now that I look back at high school with the knowledge of education I have, was the only teacher I had that enforced deep learning in his students and understanding rather than repetition and memorization. I believe that because of this I had the most difficulty in that class but loved that class the most. Although Chemistry is one of the more difficult area of science for me I love doing it and even had obtained a minor in it because I love it and not because it will be an easy A.
This is how my school years and my teachers, as well as other influences such as historical and fictional figures have all contributed to my love for science. When I was choosing my major for college I knew it was going to involve science however I didn't know which field I most wanted to get into. After a long process of searching for college majors I choose Microbiology because I developed a curiosity of inter cellular mechanics through AP Biology. With this interest I hope to one day use my major and future masters to get into a research program or attend PA school to become a physician's assistant. In my first year of college I've realized that a career path in this field will be very difficult to pursue, however I still have no doubts that I still want to go down this path.
AmandaWard
My personal expertise is volunteering. I know volunteering might not be considered a specific activity that people can be "experts" in, but it is one of the only things that I have done that qualifies being above average in my life. In school and sports I was an average student and an average player, but when it came to volunteering, I completed many more hours than the average student.
Starting from a young age my parents tried to instill the importance of helping others in me. They always had my brothers and I do events to help out other people in the community. I have always loved helping people when they need it. My favorite volunteer activity was working two summers at Camp Sunshine, a camp for the homeless kids in my town. I was not making any money but I still got up everyday excited to help the kids and get to work. If it was possible I would have volunteered there my entire life. I did not mind not getting paid for the hard work I was doing because helping the kids was worth more than money. In addition to volunteering at Camp Sunshine for two years, I had many other volunteer activities such as the Walk for Hospice, Boston Marathon, working in a soup kitchen, raising money for the jolly jaunt, being a councilor at Lets Play Sports, and so on. Out of all these activities Camp Sunshine was the most influential.
Volunteering at Camp Sunshine is one of the main reasons that I picked my major as Human Development Family Studies. I want to continue to help kids my entire life either through social work or teaching. Both of these career fields will allow me to positively impact someones life. Although I will not be volunteering in these jobs, I will be helping people and that is the main idea behind volunteering.
I will always keep the value of helping others close to my heart. Through my lifestyle choices, career, and attitude towards others, helping people will always be a priority to me. The qualities and life lessons I have obtained through volunteering will stay with me a life time.
EmmaZingg
From a young age I was known as the social butterfly, actually whenever our landline was called I would run to pick it up. At this point I wasn't even 5 and I already knew common phone etiquette. Until I was 10 years old I wouldn't go anywhere alone, well besides the bathroom that is. But even when I was home I wouldn't dare to go upstairs without my mom or dad, even to get a sweatshirt. I am a people person, and by spending so much time surrounded by people I became an expert communicator.
People matter to me. This may sound general and common from person to person, but mental health of others is what I value over anything else in my life. Just the other day I was going through the process to become apart of a sorority along side with nearly 600 other girls, and a friend of a friend, a complete stranger to me, was quiet upset because she was not asked to revisit the sororities that she had wishes to revisit and yes to many this sound like a first world problem and in many ways it is, but I helped her through it. I told her that "you shouldn't be upset over a sorority who doesn't want you cause they just aren't able to recognize how special you are." I gave this sweet young lady a hug and told her that she was beautiful and those sororities don't deserve her if they can't see that too. The girl that I actually knew didn't even give her a hug, instead she suggested that she go speak to one of the sorority recruitment councilors, she didn't want to deal with her friend being upset so she decided to just push her off to someone else to deal with. I know how that feels on the receiving end, and the answer is not very good, nor is my friend practicing particularly good communication skills.
I got to this place in my life where I feel a level of comfort with who while I used to be the complete opposite, lacking self confidence and full of anxiety. I understand how great it feels when you are able to make real connections at times where may feeling uncomfortable. So through my experiences of discomfort in high school and I realized it is often hard to do this for yourself you aren't going to ask a stranger for hug when your already in tears but if you offer one to a stranger in tears then its not as weird. I think it is important that we surround ourselves with people who have a positive impact on our lives so I try to be that person for others when I can. My expertise is reading situation arounds me and helping healing those who need it.
Although this may sound weird or out there to some people but when I can see that it is received as being kind. It is amazing to be able to improve someone else's well being. Perhaps this is why I want to become a teacher. Its the most beautiful thing when you have the power to change someones life, even if it just for a day.
Dr. Fogleman
26 September 2014
Thespian Pledge:
“I promise to uphold the aims and ideals of the International Thespian Society. I am a student of theatre, and excellence is my ideal. I promise to perform my part as well as I can; to accept praise and criticism with grace; to cooperate with my fellow Thespians and work for the good of the Troupe; and to share my love of the theatre.”
I am a registered Thespian. This means I have completed the prerequisites required of the International Thespian Society in order to be accepted into a Thespian Troupe. The quote included at the top of the page is on the back of my Thespian card. In all honesty, it's been a long time since I've looked at it. I earned it in ninth grade, so it's dirty and faded, but still readable. The night of my initiation seems like it was only yesterday: Myself and my fellow inductees sat outside the auditorium dressed all in black, not allowed to speak a word. We were then blindfolded, and led up on stage. The officers of Troupe 6945 then read the official transcript of the International Thespian Society to us; and at the end we repeated a pledge. This may sound rather odd, and a bit scary, but trust me, it was a lot of fun. That night signified my completion of 100 theatre hours, and acceptance into a society of performers. Over the next three years, I immersed myself in all things theatre, and came out of it with a very substantial amount of knowledge.
Throughout the years, I have participated in countless plays, musicals, drama classes, and theatre conferences. It all began in sixth grade, with my first non-school play, The Last Gladiator. It was a Newport Children's Theatre production and I was an ensemble member, meaning I had no lines. When I began my relationship with drama, it was something I did because my best friend, Lucy, did it. Reciting lines in front of a group of strangers can be daunting, and those first few plays most certainly were. As the years went by, however, I found myself enjoying the thrill of performing more and more. Once I got to high school, I was a full fledged theatre kid.
I was too nervous to audition for the fall play my freshman year. It was A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. I did end up working backstage for the show, as a techie. I moved set pieces on and off the stage, dressed all in black, trying to be as quick as possible, much like a ninja. I loved watching the show from the wings. The actors were like superheroes to me, so confident and composed. They could deliver page long soliloquies with the greatest of ease. I knew this was the place for me. So, in the spring, I auditioned for the musical, Pippin. I did not get cast, but I was a techie again, very typical of a freshman. I learned a great deal about the behind the scenes aspect of a show that year; which further enriched my theatre experience.
Another crucial part of my theatre education was conferences. Throughout the year, there were several of these for high school students around the state, and also the Northeast. A typical day went like this: You arrive with your Troupe, and then are given a name tag with a specific color and shape on it. These represent your group for the day. It was a chance to meet new people. There were workshops to go to; things like “Introduction to Puppetry,” or “Stage Makeup 101.” All different branches of theatre to sample buffet style. Also you could perform for adjudicators. Either contrasting monologues, a group scene, musical theatre, mime, or even presenting your lighting, costume, or set designs from a show, were options. The adjudicators rate your presentation and provide written feedback. Those who receive the highest score, a Superior, are eligible to go the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska. The ITF is a week long conference, but with even more workshops, and also full length shows that were selected from high schools around the country. I attended this festival my junior year, and it was spectacular. A theatre kid's heaven. What these conferences did was introduce me to the world of educational theatre, and all of the areas that encompass it.
I learned much of what I know about drama from experience. Simply participating in so many productions gave me a solid base of knowledge. But I also learned from my theatre classes. We were taught acting techniques and exercises that allowed us to become more comfortable on stage, and with ourselves as actors. It's something you have to practice, like an instrument or sport. I believe some people have an innate ability for acting, but most of us have to work at it. It's not easy to “go there.” Actors will know what I mean when I say, “going to that place.” What it is is exposing yourself emotionally to your audience; in a nutshell. It's scary, yet empowering. Out of all of the realms of theatre I have participated in, acting is the most frightening.
I never had a starring role in any productions in high school, but I was always a part of the shows. Usually I was onstage, but my junior year, I was assistant director for the fall play.The previous year in my Acting Ensemble class, my teacher, Mrs. Arthur, noticed I had a certain flair for directing. We would often watch each others monologues and give constructive criticism. Perhaps it was a culmination of my hours spent watching theatre, but I was very good at picking out the small discrepancies in someone's movements or speech. I could see what needed to be done in order for the message of their piece to be clear. I went on to student direct the fall play, A Piece of my Heart, which was about servicewomen of the Vietnam War. From working backstage, to acting, to directing, I became very well rounded in those four years.
Drama is a vehicle for communicating human experiences. Plays create a unique connection between actors and their audience; a shared feeling and understanding. I have been in a deep and committed relationship with theatre for about eight years, and I can say with confidence that I have expertise. My level of involvement may vary from year to year, but it will always be a part of my life. I will continue to carry out my duties as a member of the International Thespian Society as long as I live.
Thespian Motto:
“Act well your part; there all the honor lies.” -Alexander Pope
Before the move, when I was twelve, my father signed me up to take the Red Cross babysitting course. At the time, this course seemed to me to be the longest day of my life. We had to sit in a room and listen to our instructor go on about CPR, the Heimlich maneuver, and how to change a diaper from about seven in the morning until five o’clock at night. But once that day was over, I was a true Red Cross certified Babysitter. With one days training I could be trusted with children of all ages, in theory.
Business was booming. People trusted me with their kids because I am generally friendly in character and I had my certification to ease any worried folks. I began babysitting nearly weekend after that. One family in particular took me in and even had me nanny throughout the summer. I was naturally good at it! Kids liked me because I would play with them instead of watching television all day. We would play pretend; good guy versus bad guy, monster versus alien. But my favorite activity was playing with chalk when the weather was agreeable. I could change diapers like a pro and make almost anything into a game. The hardest part for me discipline.
I found discipline uncomfortable for a good chunck of my babysitting career. After all, I was merely a babysitter and I wanted the kids to like me. But the kids I began to babysit are like family to me now. I see them all of the time and the parents have been so supportive of me over the years. I was in. This babysitting job had evolved into another home for me. I felt so comfortable with these kids and in their home. Because of all of the time that I was spending with the kids, their parents began to expected me to disipline when necessary. I'm not talking about anything severe, just timeouts and a stern talking to if the kids were horribly misbehaving. I had to toughen up a bit, something I had never considered a quality of a good babysitter, but I do now. I learned to be stricter by watching the kids interact with their parents. I knew how they expected their kids to behave and what behavior was absolutely not dismissable. Time outs for temper tantrums and a stern talking to for purposefully not listening. I was a bit afraid that the kids would not like me as much once I became more authoritative, but to my surprise not much changed. I could still be fun without the kids getting out of control, in fact it earned me some respect. Even though I played a little bit of a different role as babysitter, I was still in a weird way, a part of this family.
The hours that I have spent babysitting over the years have gone undocumented but I am nearly positive the time I have dedicated to babysitting qualifies me as an expert. I was lucky enough to find a base family to help be become a better babysitter over the years through experience and observation. I have become a little stricter, this is true. My tolerance for back talk and rude remarks has deflated, but I still love to babysit. It for sure has taught me responsibility but I have also learned somethings about discipline. Somehow I have found the balance of disciplining without becoming the bad guy, and I think this will be a useful tool for me in the future when I have kids of my own. I know when to use it and when not to use it. Babysitting is all about feeling out the situation and deciding how to act, because whatever you do will influence the children's lives. That is why discipline was an important skill to learn as a babysitter to up my expertise.
So, this was me as a third grader. Reciting “The Pledge” on the loud speaker was the most exciting thing for all the students at Clintonville Elementary School, except for me. Being the girl who stuttered when she read out loud and was too shy to even stand in front of the class, I was completely terrified. I have struggled with reading aloud since the very beginning. I would jumble up my words, my face turned the shade of a ripe tomato, fidget with my hands, and even break out into a sweat. Safe to say, speaking in front of the entire school was not my cup of tea.
In school, this was my “fatal flaw”. I would cringe every time the teacher would call on me to read something. After my name was called, the rest of the class would sigh with disapproval. Holding back tears, my face turned a shade of red from the embarrassment. I would struggle through the paragraph and finish with so much relief that it was over. However, I never understood why I had so much trouble. In my head reading was fine. I actually enjoyed it! I wouldn't stumble on phrases or mess up. I was in my head where no one else could judge me.
I was so embarrassed by my poor public speaking skills. So, my mom signed me up for third grade theatre. I received the part of a main ensemble dancer in The Wiz. I was very comfortable with this because I had danced my whole life. Then, the next year, I was given the supporting role of a brother in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. I was so impressed with myself because I had three whole lines! However, the following year, I received the role of Maureen, the Hen, in Honk Jr. I sang my own song and everything! I became a “ham” and was one of the leaders of the drama department!
I continued theatre throughout elementary and middle school. It helped me gain confidence with speaking in front of others. My phrases had fluency and were properly articulated. I became an entirely different student. I was no longer timid in class. I raised my hand to read things aloud and did not feel constantly embarrassed anymore. Sure, I still mess up occasionally and struggle with messing up words when I’m in front of a lot of people, but I just shake it off and try again. I hope to one day consider reading out loud a personal expertise. However, it is very unlikely. I will most likely always have a little trouble reading in front of large groups, but at least, now, I have the guts to get up and try.
This kind of expertise that I possess has proven to be very useful over the past 13 or so years of my life. It all started when I was maybe 5 years old and my mom introduced me to a new born baby. I was fascinated with how small she was and how adorable, so I sat and played with her all day. I was the only one who could make the baby stop crying and she loved when I played peek-a-boo with her. As I grew, I was constantly introduced to new babies, and everyone used to tell my parents how great I was with the kids. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out each child and what made them "tick". I would say to myself, "this child is crying? Okay... why? Try talking to them about it. That didn't work? Okay, now try distracting them." Each child was different and with every new child, i learned a new strategy.
I have found that the reason i find education so interesting, is not only because you are expanding minds and continuing history, but it is also a challenge. Teaching a new student is much like trying to make a baby stop crying. Sometimes, they learn right away, but other times you have to keep trying different strategies until it finally clicks. Some people say that teaching is monotonous. i would say that only bad teachers experience monotony, because for every new approach to a subject that a teacher may try, the more intellect they gain on that topic. Plus, the students keep it interesting by always finding new ways to go about topics that may not have even crossed the teacher's mind. I have learned a great deal from my time working with children, and i like to think i understand children much better from having so much experience with them beforehand.
I have found that the secret to being good with kids is that you have to treat them as equals. I am the youngest of all of my cousins, and I have a HUGE family. When I was born, one of my cousins had already graduated high school. Since I was so young, I was always talked down to and hated it. The key to making kids like you is to treat them the way that “young you” would want to be treated. I know that for babysitting, for instance, you have to create a persona that you are their superior, and that is fine! But, there is no need to talk down to them all of the time. Even for an 8 year old, that is degrading. After all of my experience babysitting, running kids events at my beach house, tutoring, and teaching skiing lessons, I hope that i have benefited and am more prepared for my future work with children in a classroom.
Kids are tough. Sometimes being stern is the only way to get them to listen, but I like to think that I have mastered this art, some may even call me an expert. I enjoy the way that a child’s mind works. I like to think of it as growing and very impressionable. I have seen children with broken homes, parents that neglect them, and children that are just misunderstood. My mother being a teacher has helped me realize what I feel that I am meant to do in life… help children, just like my mom does. I hope that one day I can make what I already do often, into a paying job.
Personal Expertise
My personal expertise is something I unfortunately have not practiced in a very long time. It is something I have loved since my childhood and hopefully plan on doing again in the future. This sport and my expertise that I love so much is riding horses.
When I was five years old and I told my mom that I wanted a horse she just laughed. I continued to tell her this almost every day for the next nine years and eventually, it worked. There is a lot more to this story though. Throughout my life I have always loved horses. She put me into summer camp when I was five and at the end of the day I would cry when I had to leave. I continued with camp until I started doing riding lessons and also got a job with a family friend cleaning her barn and caring for her horses. I held that job from age eight until the week before I left for college. I started cleaning stalls at a local barn as well interning for riding time and lessons. Horses have always been a passion of mine and this is why I consider them my expertise.
During my 4th and 5th grade summers I got the opportunity to lease a horse names Tess. Leasing a horse essentially means I had to pay for her care but I could ride her and take her to shows whenever I wanted. She was a very old Arabian show horse and I referred to her as a push button horse because she always knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and almost never acted up. She was easy to work with and easy to show but after two years I wanted more of a challenge. I got to lease Anna a five year old Saddlebred, the spring that I was in 6th grade. She was a very young horse for someone my age to be working with, especially because she was still in training. I loved Anna because she had so much energy and she barely knew how to walk, everything was always at a fast pace. We trained together for months until the summer showing season. I rode Saddleseat, which is a form of English, but it is not very common in the northeast.
I do not know how much a common person knows about riding English. In Saddleseat the saddle itself is longer on the sides and flatter. The bridle has two bits, the pieces of metal that go in the horses mouth. The first is skinnier and helps hold the horse’s headset correctly, the second is thick and more for the actual control of the horse. There are also two separate reigns , the smaller has to be held in between the pinkie finger and ring finger. It is a much more intricate style of riding and also more old fashioned and more upbeat. Some classes require you to rack, which is a fast paced movement only some Saddlebred horses have been trained to do.
I remember my first show with Anna like it was yesterday, it was a small local show just to start out. We were in a small class of about four girls, two of them I knew from my own barn. We walked slowly into the ring stopping at the rail once we entered. We started at a walk again, then trotting, the cantering then the same in the other direction. I was doing everything I had practiced. Posting to the steps of Anna’s trot, holding her back with a strong grip at the canter because of her ridiculous amount of energy. There were so many things running through my head but the most important things were to smile and stay confident; Anna could tell when I was nervous. We went through four different classes that day, equitation, pleasure, command, and showmanship. Each class we were judged on a different aspect of our riding. At the end of the show the championships were announced. I had won my division, something I thought was impossible to do at my first show.
Despite my excitement, problems arose with winning a championship, even at a local show. Other horse owners from the area had seen my performance with Anna and because I did not own her they started making offers to my trainer. At the time no one would tell me because I was only in the sixth grade. Soon the rumors started to surface and I was devastated, but fortunately my parents had heard them as well. They bought Anna for me and surprised me a few days later when I came home from school. It was the best gift I have ever received in my life and I cried..
I owned Anna for four years after that. We continued to show and continued to win classes and championships for the next three show seasons. I consider horse back riding my personal expertise even though it is something I want to continue working on. It is not just something I know a lot about but something I truly love. I had to sell Anna the beginning of my junior year of high school. Her expenses started to grow and I had much less time because of my job. Letting her go was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but I will always be grateful for everything I learned from Anna and from riding horses throughout my childhood. Riding horses is a sport that takes a lot of trust, patience and determination and those are things I plan to apply to my everyday life.
When I came to URI last year as a freshman, I was very timid and shy. It was difficult for me to go out of my comfort zone to make friends and to live in a new place without my family. That spring, I decided to do something totally out of my norm and apply to be a tour guide. After the strenuous application and interview process, I got the job! I was so proud of myself but I knew that what entailed to be a tour guide was going to be more work than one might think. Being a tour guide, having confidence, and public speaking is my personal expertise something that I am truly passionate about. It is something that I am continuing to work on to be the absolute best tour guide that I can be.
I first got interested in the job because it was advertised all around campus. I wanted to be involved more in school and become a part of something bigger than just my schoolwork. My first semester went well I just knew something was missing. I knew that this job was going to be a challenge for me because public speaking was something I struggled with but it was a task that I wanted to overcome. Also, my roommate was doing it and at the time it seemed like I couldn't do anything without her. After applying and getting the job, it was the best decision I have ever made.
All of us new tour guides were trained for months before we were allowed to go out and actually give tours. We were also given a manual. That manual became my Bible. I was so obsessed with learning all of the information about the school because I wanted to be absolutely prepared when my boss would question us at our trainings. I honestly spent more time with my tour guide information than with my schoolwork. Once we completed our training, I felt so confident and nervous going out on my first tour.
Once I actually went out on tour for the first time, I felt so comfortable and confident with my knowledge about the school. All of the hard work and memorization paid off once I returned to the Memorial Union when I completed the tour. All of the people who were on my tour applauded me because I was a freshman knowing all of the information. They all filled out evaluation forms with various positive comments about my tour and my personality. Going out and getting this reinforcement from complete strangers boosted my confidence as well as my public speaking skills. As a result, I made a lot of new friends with my new attitude being more outgoing and friendly. I wanted to befriend everyone that I met some being tour guides and some being people I met in my classes or on my floor. This made my experience at URI my freshman year much more enjoyable. I felt more at home at this new place with a new outlook, new friends, and a new job.
I know that my tour guiding skills will benefit me in the future. I have learned and am continuing to learn how to public speak. Public speaking is a necessity in various fields as well as being a college student. I know that this skill will help me in my future with schooling as well as my profession. Also, tour guiding has transformed me from the shy freshman to the more confident sophomore. Being a tour guide as my expertise has benefitted me in so many ways and I am grateful that I am able to be a part of something so big on campus that has helped me discover who I truly am.
I have been lucky as far as my family life goes. I have two parents who care for me and love me unconditionally. Unfortunately, they stopped loving each other. This was about five years ago when I noticed their marital problems. It was only a little more than a two years ago when they decided they were going to file for a divorce. My little brother, twelve at the time, did not see this coming. He struggled with it for the longest time. My junior year of high school was hard for me as well with all that was going on at home. My parents still lived together, but slept in separate rooms. This close living space led to many disagreements and verbal fights. When my parents would argue, my brother would shut down. He would run to the playroom and break into tears. These fights affected me as well, but I focused my efforts on staying strong for my little brother. I would comfort him with hugs and calm reassurance that everything would get better soon. Helping my brother cope with my parents’ divorce made me feel like a better person. Helping him actually helped me.
My desire to help others extended to my friends. I have never been the type of person to stick with a cliquey group of friends. Instead, my friends came from all different places and walks of life. I specifically had this one friend, Casey, who struggled a lot with everything. Her mother had been battling Multiple sclerosis (MS) for years, which in turn, led her father to take out his stress by physically abusing Casey. With all this going on around her, Casey began to doubt her own worth as a person. Casey's low self esteem then led her to abuse prescription drugs and self-harm I never wanted her to feel like she had nobody on her side. I offered her my support as much as she would accept and made sure that she always had someone there for her. Helping Casey and being alongside her as she recovered made me feel like I had purpose. I was a positive influence in her life when she needed one. Later when I was dealing with my own personal issues, Casey was there for me. She reminded me that she owed me for always being there for her. This just reassured me that I really did make a difference in her life. My helpfulness had visible results.
I also shared my expertise in helpfulness in an academic setting. My senior year of high school, I took AP Physics. This was my favorite class ever and I was a deep learner and always wanted to fully understand the material that was presented. This led to many days after school with my wonderful teacher, Mr. Levesque. There were always many students from my AP class, as well as regular physics students staying for extra help. On days where students swarmed Mr. Levesque, I would volunteer to help them out if I could. I would put my own questions on hold and answer those of the physics students. When I explained concepts and worked through example problems with them, it would actually help me better understand the material. If I could explain it, that meant I really knew it. I would also stay after school with my AP Physics lab group and other groups and help my fellow classmates work through homework problems if I knew the solutions. Helping other students also gave me visible results when I saw that their homework and test grades would improve. I get great satisfaction from seeing others benefit from my help.
My acts of helpfulness extended beyond family, friends, and peers to random strangers who I’ve never met before. Performing random acts of kindness always gives me extra satisfaction. Just knowing that I could have single handedly made someone’s awful day significantly better makes me feel good about myself. Simple acts like holding the door for someone or picking up something I saw someone drop take little time and have great benefits. Seeing a friendly genuine smile every once in a while just proves that my helpfulness is being appreciated. Being appreciated makes me feel good and accomplished.
To be an expert certainly does not mean you are all knowing, or perfect in any way. I would never consider myself perfect, or an expert, but I do think that one area I excel in is helpfulness. I think that a special skill that benefits oneself and others is the best type of skill to master. A skill like this takes just as much commitment, time, and patience to be mastered. I look at my helpfulness as one of my best assets.
My family is very athletic.My grandpa and father both played sports their entire lives and coached for many years. My grandpa was an amazing soccer player throughout his childhood and college career. He inspired me to play soccer at a young age. When I started playing at age four, I barely wanted to touch the ball; I was always running away from the action. I absolutely hated it. After that, I stopped playing for a while, being that I was so terrible. At some point I started playing again. My father and grandpa were determined for me to be a great athlete. They worked with me day after day and taught me the basic skills I needed to know. After all that hard work, I finally won MVP defense player at age 10.
When it came to club soccer tryouts, I was extremely nervous. My town is very political when it comes to sports. Unfortunately, the players usually make the team for all the wrong reasons. All I wanted was to make the “A” team. Finally the week of tryouts came, I felt confident and left the field each day being very proud. I remember when I got the phone call from the coach, he had told me I made the "A" team. I automatically started crying tears of joy. I did it. I accomplished something so very important to me.
As I got older, I continued to play and I continued to feel more confident in my skills. In middle school, I did not make the 7th grade team. I was devastated, but I knew it had nothing to do with my performance. I did not let it stop me; I became manager for the team that year. The following year, I made the 8th grade team and then preceded to try out for a different club team. This team was not in my town so I was away from all the politics that were against my chances. Ironically, the team was a year older than me. I made that team and found a place very easily.
High school soccer was very rough for me. I was at a disadvantage because all the other girls played for my town’s club team. I didn’t enjoy playing with the girls from my town. I didn’t have passion for the sport when I played with them like how I did when I played on my club team. I made the team that year but I barely played. The next year, almost all of the girls made the varsity team while I was stuck on the junior varsity team. It was a blessing in disguise. I was the leader of that team. I was the captain and role model for the rest of the girls. I had an amazing year playing on that team. We were division champions and I couldn’t have been happier with where I was.
Playing soccer throughout my life has taught me a lot. I learned to never give up and that you can do anything you set your mind to. One of my favorite coaches always said, “Practice makes permanent.” It doesn’t make perfect because no one and nothing is perfect. That saying is something that I have carried for years. I proved so many people wrong and I showed my true strength. Everything happens for a reason you just need to believe it.
I woke up in the middle of the night over spring break with panic and nervousness. I needed to find a summer job and I absolutely couldn’t wait another second. The thought of waiting till the last minute before summer break began and having a bank account perpetually at twenty-four dollars made my stomach cringe. I hopped onto Craigslist and searched through sketchy advertisements and offerings. I eventually came across an ad for “Boston Neck Pizza” for a part-time delivery/phone girl position. Not really my style, but I thought it was kind of cool and there was a number to call ASAP. I woke up the next morning and left a message with my future boss and mentor, Maria. The late night scramble for a part-time and easy summer job evolved into a skill that came not so naturally, but made me feel good about myself. Overtime, I became an expert employee at Boston Neck Pizza.
After working at Boston Neck for two months, Maria offered me an opportunity that changed my desired career path and showed me how rewarding working in a restaurant can be. Joe, the manager at Boston Neck, and Maria began to train me as a pizza cook. I immediately felt stressed. Assembling a simple cheese pizza, something I originally looked at as mundane and easy, was a disaster. I spilled sauce, used too much cheese, and don’t even mention the ovens. I was absolutely terrified to stick my precious, delicate skin inside that oven to place the pizza down on the brick. The worst part was that I hadn’t even gotten to the more difficult stuff. Specialty pizzas were my nightmare. I couldn’t remember what toppings went where and how much I was supposed to use. Every night I was scheduled, there was a designated learning period. I was to practice with the ovens, which I was embarrassingly slow at, assemble pizzas with quickness and accuracy, and also interact with customers who entered the store. I wasn’t the best by far, but I was a hard worker and overcame many of my fears to become better. As months continued on, I searched for more advice about how to become better. Joe, an expert himself, showed me all the shortcuts and ways to make my job simpler. He taught me the tricks and ways to be quick and pizza witty when business got tough.
My biggest breakthrough happened when my boss, Maria, left the country for two weeks. I was required to step up my game and work my hardest to pick up the slack while Maria was away. For the first time, I began to open the store on my own, prep vegetables and meats, and interact with customers (and cook their food!) with speed and sincerity. Over the two weeks that Maria was gone, I felt more confident and sure about my skill set. It wasn’t until she returned, that she gave me the news that I was ready to work alone during the week. Joe told Maria how proud he was of my hard work and acquired skills and they allowed me the opportunity of cooking full time.
By the time August rolled around, I knew every nook and cranny of Boston Neck. I understood the cash register, the oven, pizza assembly, and most importantly, customer interaction. But oh, believe me. This was no easy task. Many bloopers took place and if my life was a movie, it would be quite hilarious.
I would not have become an expert pizza cook if I had not completely screwed up and learned from my mistakes. My first night closing the pizza store, I accidentally turned the temperature knob on the oven, which due to age, no longer had the temperature readings on them. The main oven was completely off temperature. No one knew what the original temperature was and we were all in the dark as to what to do. Eventually, the whole temperature device was replaced. On another extremely busy night, the store received a call back while I was working. A man claimed that I ruined his pizza. He told me that his pizza was burned, tasted bad, and that he was lucky to find green peppers on it. He destroyed my self-esteem that night when he ended the conversation by saying that, “[I] will be the reason the business will go down the drain”. My heart was broken, but I woke up the next day complaining and reviewing it non-stop, but I eventually realized that my mistakes could only make me better at what I do...and hey, Maria hadn't fired me after all of my mistakes, so they must've liked me over at BNP.
Answer the phone; write the order, and grab a pizza, two scoops of sauce, one big handful of cheese spread evenly, ten steps to the oven, 15 minutes or so, and wahlah! A beautiful cheese pizza is made. Working at Boston Neck Pizza has made me into an even more hardworking and successful human being. I have learned to work towards expertise and perfection. I know how to problem solve in the restaurant and I know how hard efforts pay off, especially when I wanted to give up. My mistakes have made me better at what I do and I would not trade it for any other skill, except maybe baking. Everyone loves good cake.
Personal Expertise in Gender
Something I care a lot about and am constantly working on getting better at is learning about gender. I am a feminist, or a person who wants equity because groups of people are being subjugated because of who they are. I am truly passionate about my Gender & Women’s Studies major (GWS) because the information I have learned about feminism has changed my life. The more I know about gender studies, the more enlightened and empowered I feel, so I hope to teach feminist theory to young people one day as my career. My expertise in gender studies is constantly growing as I observe and reflect on society using a feminist lens. I have learned about gender in my internships, through independent reading, and classes.
One of the most influential internships I have participated in is the Peer Educator program in the Women’s Center at URI. I have only been a Peer Educator for about a month, but I have already grown so much in my knowledge of violence prevention on college campuses. As a Peer Educator, I give presentations to URI 101 classes about how to be an effective bystander. I teach the freshmen about stalking, partner violence, and sexual violence. I do this so that they can recognize warning signs of these three types of power-based personal violence and be able to step in if they decide it is safe to do so. I have grown so much as a person by doing URI 101 presentations. I have gained confidence in my teaching abilities and hope in my ability to make a difference in the world. I know that there are people in my audiences who have been personally affected by acts of power-based personal violence, so I am so grateful to be able to show them ways to heal. Being someone who supports those impacted by gender-based violence has been a huge step in my process towards become an advocate of all oppressed people.
Another way I have gained expertise in topics related to gender is through reading, discussing, and reflecting on ways gender stereotypes impact the way people live. One of my main resources for information is everydayfeminism.com. Everyday Feminism is an electronic magazine with articles on self-worth, sexuality, body image, violence, work, parenting, gender, the LGBTQ community, race, and class. In addition to Everyday Feminism, I read scholarly articles about gender-related research studies that interest me. I engage in meaningful discourse about gender with the gender club on campus called Students for the Advancement of Gender Equity (SAGE). By meeting with other people my age and talking about gender, I am able to learn about other peoples’ perspectives on current feminist thinking and grow my personal knowledge base. When I am alone, I think about fun ways to engage young people in feminist discussions and dream of having my own high school classroom where I can get students excited about feminism.
The last way I gain expertise in gender studies is through my academic classes at URI. In the past, I have taken courses on women in international social movements, gender inequality through a sociological lens, diversity in film, and violence prevention. In each of these courses I have learned the fundamental ways of thinking for feminists. Having a shared language, or knowing the same definitions for key terms, is imperative if one wants to be part of a social movement such as the feminist movement. I have also learned how to put feminist theories into action by doing service work and interviewing experts in the field. This semester, I am doing my honors project on the gender-related topic of marriage, which will further enrich my studies. I will be analyzing my family’s letters from three generations of marriages in which the men were in the navy and the women were at home raising children and maintaining the household. By using feminist research methods, I am going to continue to grow as a feminist thinker and scholar.
The more I learn about gender, the more I am interested in the topic, which is why I have some expertise in the area. Not only do I study gender in my classes, but I partake in internships and do my own independent research that complements what I learn in the classroom. Knowing about feminism has drastically changed my world view and made me into the person I am today. My primary motivator in learning about gender is enabling other people to be their true selves. By continuing to practice learning and teaching about feminism, I will be able to share my expertise with others and play an important role in the feminist movement.
September 24, 2014
EDC 102H
A Personal Expertise Statement
Everyone is good at something; everyone has a certain “calling” in life that is truly what they are meant to do. I could speak about how I’m an expert on the game of basketball but I do not want to bore everyone with yet another basketball story. I’d actually much rather focus on writing. I understand that this is kind of ironic claiming that I’m an expert on writing when indeed I am writing a paper right now, but I’m going to go for it anyway.
I am not going to sit here and pretend that I am the best writer in the world. In fact, I know that I am not. I fully understand that my rough drafts usually are a little bit shaky and could use some revising. However, I have learned a lot over the past few years about writing that I believe has made me an expert on this topic. More specifically, I believe that I am an expert on creative, or informal, writing.
During my Junior and Senior years of high school I took two creative writing courses. These courses have provided me with the necessary tools to continue on to higher education. During Creative Writing, a huge focus was on the college essay. I drafted my college essay probably close to twenty times and each time I learned a little more about writing than I already knew. First, when creatively writing, it is important to defy the traditional structure. Gone are the days where you should have an introduction of 4-5 sentences, a body paragraph or two between 5-10 sentences and a conclusion of 5-6 sentences. Sure it is definitely important to have an introduction and conclusion but what you do in between is totally up to you. Structure is reserved for formal writing and it should definitely be utilized then, but in terms of creative writing, anything but the norm is highly encouraged.
Along with defying structure, I have also learned that dialogue is your friend. As my teacher would always say, “show, don’t tell.” Instead of telling the reader that it was hot out, you could throw in dialogue between two people expressing how absolutely disgusting it is outside in the mid July heat. To take it one step further, you could even physically describe the characters to convey your point. Showing, rather than telling, is an extremely important component of creative writing. With that being said, I am going to say with confidence that I can take a story that I have lived through, and put it down on paper while still conveying all of the excitement that occurred exactly when it was happening. I also believe that I can take my expertise and apply it to the future.
There is not going to be much room for creative writing in college, however I do have plans of becoming a guidance counselor in the future. One major component of the profession is writing letters of recommendation for students. No college wants to receive a mundane letter simply listing all of the positive attributes of the student being described; they do not want it to be a laundry list of extra-curriculars. These colleges want to read something that is out of the ordinary, and I believe that my expertise in creative writing will be able to do just that. My letters are not going to be cookie-cutter letters with an "insert name here" format, but rather they will be personalized according to each student and their strengths and weaknesses. After all, it was my creative college essay that got me into college, so who’s to say that my creative letters of recommendation cannot help other students get into college?
My personal expertise is definitely creative writing. Whether it is “showing, not telling” incorporating dialogue, or defying traditional structure, I know quite a bit about the subject. Informal/creative writing is something that I enjoy doing thoroughly and it is a skill that I will be able to take with me throughout my entire life.
American Education
23 September 2014
Personal Expertise Essay
I really do not consider myself an expert at anything, I feel that I am really more of a "jack of all trades, master of none" type of person. However, if I had to pick one I would say I favor reading over any of my skills. Reading has been a joy to me ever since I was two years old, demanding "read book" to my Nonna, and she patiently read to me for hours on end. Perhaps it's because I have such an active imagination that I like to read so much. I imagine what it would be like to live in different worlds and think what I would do in the situations that different characters face. Mostly I like to read fiction to pull myself out of whatever reality I am facing and dive into a world born of a creative author's mind. But occasionally I find non-fiction topics that interest me and I enjoy reading about that as well. Whatever the situation in my life, I have always considered myself to be a very good reader, though perhaps not an "expert" if such a thing exists.
Many teachers in my early schooling would count the number of books you read by putting a sticker next to your name for each one. If you read 25 books by the end of the year, you could go to the ice cream party. I made it my mission to read as many books as possible by the end of the year, not because of the ice cream but because I am very competitive and wanted my line of stickers to stretch farther than anyone else's. There has been a psychology debate that offering rewards for reading dulls the interest in reading, and maybe it did for some kids, but not me. I just kept wanting to read more and more, excited by the cover of each book to discover the story inside.
One summer I checked out about ten chapter books from the library, but I could not decide which one to read first. So I lined all the books up and read the first chapter from each one before moving to the second chapter of each one. Needless to say, I was seriously confused by the second round. I kept forgetting what each book was about, and thinking certain characters belonged to the wrong book. Having discovered I had been too ambitious, I returned to reading one book at a time, a little disappointed that I was incapable of handling ten.
Now this is not to say that I loved every book I read. In fact, many of the books I read I hated, especially the ones that teachers assigned us to read. If I had to read a chapter from I textbook that I found boring, I read ten times slower than I usually did and absorbed less of the content because I was falling asleep! And I never understood why English teachers had such a fascination with Edgar Allen Poe. A creepy guy who wrote about murder and dismemberment many years ago has absolutely no appeal to me whatsoever. I will admit, on occasion some teachers would have us read something that interested me, but it was so rare that it seemed to be almost a miracle whenever it actually occurred.
In order to get better at reading, I had to challenge myself. I read books with some words that I did not understand, but I discovered what they meant based on the sentences around them. Some historical fiction books in particular were hard to understand, because they made references to things that were no longer relevant in this day and age. But I actually enjoyed the process of figuring out what something new meant. The most difficult books were long novels written in many years past. For example, when I was twelve I struggled through Little Women, because I felt a lot of the scenes dragged on needlessly. However, if I were to read that book now I am sure it would be much less difficult because I have grown in my reading. I also like to help a little girl I babysit with reading because she struggles with it (being a math and science type personality). She does not enjoy reading the way I do, but I figure if I can make it easier, she will dislike it less.
Someday, I hope to be able to read from bland textbooks and still be able to extract meaning from them. I realize that I can always improve on patience and concentration, which will improve my reading. Perhaps I will incorporate my love of reading into a job someday. Even if people hate reading, they can always be read to. I do not know anyone who does not love a good story. I know that if I have expertise in anything, reading would be my most distinguished talent.
Have you ever seen something so intricate or beautiful like a ring or bracelet and wondered how it was made? That was the first thing I said before I learned and taught myself how to make jewelry a few summers ago. Now I say it is one of my best skills.
It all started with the camp I went to as a child, it was called Summer Trails Day Camp in Somers, New York. At this camp there were many activities that changed daily, things like basketball, nature, project adventure and boating. Certain things happened daily like morning meetings with the whole Upper Grove, grove is what they called each section and there were three of them, and swimming twice a day, the morning was instructional and the afternoon was the free swim. One thing that happened once a week was Jewelry with these sweet older ladies that were the wives of the camp owners, Jewelry was my favorite thing to do a Summer Trails, because it was the only thing other than Arts and Crafts that let out my creativity. We made so many things over the years I went to that camp from rings to bracelets with soda tops to chocker necklaces to earrings that I still wear. Jewelry became the best thing for me in Summer Trails because it was something completely different and enjoyable.
So after I worked at Summer Trails for a summer I forgot about my love of Jewelry for a little while since I had school work to think about. After that time I remembered when my mom and I were on a beach in Cape Cod, we saw a woman making different Jewelry sets while she was lounging in the sun and it made me want to do it again. With that my mom and I went to AC Moore in my hometown and bought a case for the beads and a whole treasure trove of beads for me to work with, but one thing was still amiss, I did not really know what I was doing and need to get better guidance on how to make more intricate things. This was when my mom found me a teacher, a kind woman who knew how to make some of the most amazing looking jewelry I had ever seen, things I wanted to do the minute I saw them. Patty was her name, and Patty taught me most of what I know now.
I think I’m good at it or at least I like to think that way. Everyone seems to enjoy what I make and put together for them. Since it has become my creative outlet there has been a lot of positive support for my jewelry, which I have made.
In the future I want to keep doing this and making everything I love. I have plans to sell some of it hopefully this winter break or next summer, online. There is a website called Etsy that you can have an online store for your handmade crafts that everyone will see if they search what you make like Wire crochet necklace or handmade pokeball hat, or anything else you can think of. I hope to make a store for myself and hopefully make money doing another thing I love.
In gymnastics, positioning is key. If your body is not in the right position when attempting a skill, you may injure yourself and in some cases, the person who is spotting (assisting) you. I know from many experiences that if you hesitate, don't push away at the right angle, or simply maintain the wrong body position in a skill you many injure yourself. One example of this happened a few years ago when I attempted a round-off back-handspring back tuck on the trampoline strip. I began my skill planning on completing the back tuck, halfway through I decided not to go, but at the last second I decided I wanted to flip. As you may predict, this did not end well and I ended up landing on my neck. Although I received no major injury from this experience, I heard my neck crack as I landed on it and even since have had a stiff neck. It is experiences like this which create fear of skills in gymnasts like myself, but despite injuries based on positioning mistakes, we are all told to get up and make our best effort to do it right again.
Most people would think the equipment used for gymnastics is just bars, beam, vault, and floor, but it is quite the contrary. There are many more pieces of equipment used in the sport such as the trampoline strip or "tumble track" aforementioned. The four basic equipment pieces are the main pieces used for competition, but there are many others used for training throughout the year. Unless you are a gymnast, I presume you have never heard of a "mat stack," "eight inch," or maybe even tumble strip. All of which are essential in the learning and practice of many skills in gymnastics. When you learn to vault, you first learn on a mat stack - an organized pile of mats stacked to the height the table will be at when you vault. This provides gymnasts with a chance to learn how to place their hands and control their bodies when the time comes to use the actual vault. An "eight inch" is a mat that is eight inches thick and is used for all the events whether it be a dismount mat, or a softer landing on floor, it is required in the sport. Finally, tumble strips are a strip of floor which leads into a foam pit. This may be used for learning new skills on floor, generally those which include flipping so one may add the flip to their tumbling pass before they have corrected the landing timing. All the equipment in gymnastics is essential for the safety of the gymnast and is what stands between them and a major injury. Knowing how to be safe while in a somewhat dangerous environment is very important, this is why young gymnasts are instructed on the rules of the equipment and surrounding areas within their first gymnastics class.
Finally, there are the skills that a gymnast must actually perform. For any level of gymnastics, there is always that goal you are working towards; a new skill to be achieved. Even in preschool classes, there is a set skill level a child must approach in order to be able to move up to a beginner gymnastics class. These standards are set at recreational levels by the gym owner, and at higher levels by the state, national, and even international competition levels. Although increasing one's skill ability in gymnastics may seem impossible at first, over time the gymnast learns the mindset required to achieve near perfection taking into account their body positioning, what they are trying to do on the equipment, and thinking how this may be achieved. In many cases, I have been told by coaches "envision yourself doing the skill in your head." This technique allows for a gymnast to think about the skill they need to perform and by being positive and visualizing oneself, the gymnast may see in their head all the things they need to do in order to avoid injury. These methods have attributed not only to my gymnastic career, but also to my everyday life. I am now able to use the same approaches that I did to learn new skills in gymnastics to help me envision and achieve goals in my everyday life.
Nine years and many seasons of gymnastics meets have gotten me here. I am (for the most part), an expert at gymnastics. My experience as a gymnast has given me the the knowledge I need to succeed in gymnastics and help other gymnasts succeed. Although I may not compete or even really practice gymnastics anymore, I now know what it takes to achieve skills and put my best foot forward in this sport. Because of gymnastics, I have experienced many injuries, but that never stopped me from pushing on and trying new things. My overall learning experience from my time as a gymnast taught me the importance of mindset, persistence, and self confidence which are all qualities that sound be passed on to future generations.
My best friend, Natalie, used to be very involved in a local art studio called Escape to the Arts. One summer in maybe fifth or sixth grade, she asked me to join a pottery class with her and I figured it would just be a fun thing to do and joke around in. I ended up falling in love with clay and being able to manipulate something however I wanted to and create something new that didn't exist before. After this short summer class that I got a few small plates and bowls out of, I honestly forgot about ceramics until my sophomore year of high school. I always drew and painted on my own, so I was still involved in art, but I think because classes working with clay weren't offered in my elementary and middle schools, I looked at my class at Escape to the Arts to be a sort of temporary and short-lived hobby.
My friend had taken a ceramics class with a supposedly crazy old teacher, and told me it was incredibly fun and that I should take it. So I signed up, remembering how much fun it had been years ago. As soon as the class started I was reminded how much I loved it.
This supposedly "crazy" teacher was actually an extremely talented, passionate, and eccentric woman who had been working with clay for 60 out of her 63 years. The only times she ever became crazy or angry were when people took her class and assistance for granted and weren't serious about it. And if I had been doing something I loved for my entire life, I'd be pretty upset if someone were to waste my time as well. Her name is Mrs. Allen, and before she grew to become one of my best friends by my senior year, she was the most helpful instructor I've ever had.She taught me how to hand build with clay- something I hadn't yet learned since I had only ever worked on the wheel. Mrs. Allen was surprised to see how quickly I picked up the skills, and so was I.
The best times I had with Mrs. Allen were helping her load and unload our kiln in class. Watching how careful she was with everyone's pieces, no matter how good or bad they were and no matter how much she liked or disliked the student who made them. It proved me to the level of respect Mrs. Allen had for everyone around her and especially for her art form. Additionally, considering the kiln took up the majority of a tiny closet, we spent a lot of time in very close quarters and really got to know each other. I was also pretty honored that she chose me out of my class of about 30 to help her with such a delicate and important task. It sparked our friendship that continues today. She taught me how to hand build with clay- something I hadn't yet learned since I had only ever worked on the wheel. Mrs. Allen was surprised to see how quickly I picked up the skills, and so was I.
The greatest part about art and clay specifically is that there's no such thing as a permanent mistake. Every faulty stroke of a tool or twist of the hand can be easily fixed or even turned into something new. I've been able to start off with a mug I hated and manipulate it into a beautiful honey pot and vase on several occasions. It's the most comforting and stress relieving activity I've ever done, simply because there is no wrong answer and no ugly result. Someone will like anything you make in ceramics because everyone has a different aesthetic. I think the reason I became so good at ceramic building so quickly is because I care about it so much. Many people around me in my Ceramics 1 class had just signed up for it to get rid of their art requirement (a tactic that frustrates me beyond belief). So of course someone is going to be frustrated when their task at hand is difficult and they don't actually care about it but are forced to put in the work. I excelled because I was absolutely in love with the clay, my tools, our strange but fun breathing and relaxation exercises before we worked, and being able to work with my hands in the middle of an otherwise reading and listening based school day.
My favorite piece I've ever made is a little mug that fits perfectly in my unusually small hands. Tea is my favorite drink and I have a habit of collecting many more mugs than I need (I brought six to college because I couldn't leave my favorites behind). Anyway, it was the first mug I've ever made, and in the beginning of making it, I hated it. It was a little crooked and I thought it was too short and I didn't like my handle because it was too wide. But I had yet to ever give up on a piece of mine and didn't want to start. So I spent about three weeks trying to "fix" the mug and make it perfect before I realized that maybe it didn't need to be fixed. Mrs. Allen's entire personal aesthetic was based off of asymmetry and the beauty in earthly imperfections, and while mine had always been about perfect lines and curves and colors, perhaps I had something to learn from her "go with the flow" attitude toward art. This was difficult for me because I have never been a "go with the flow" person in any aspect. I've always needed concrete things with concrete meanings and I've always needed to have concrete feelings about everything. But this little chubby mug helped me realize that sometimes it's okay to love something imperfect and give it the same attention that I would something that fits my standards of beauty and acceptance. So instead of trying to straighten the sides of my mug and make it perfect, I started to carve a design into it. I ended up turning it into a bit of a honey pot/tree mug. The outside of it has the lines and curves of tree bark and is a dark brown, and the inside is a worn-looking golden yellow. The yellow "honey" looks as if it is overflowing from the inside of the mug and dripping down the tree bark and the handle. I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen and it ended up being the mug that everyone in my class loved the most. My friend Julia who was in my class said to me "you always hate your work and then it comes out perfectly." This was a huge lesson for me. I learned that eventually, I'll make everything work out because I have the dedication and skills to do so. I just need to have people, or artistic media, around me that will be flexible and bendable enough to work with me.
I went on to take advanced ceramics my senior year and to YPP for Mrs. Allen (a YPP is a teacher's assistant) and help her make clay during the periods of the day in which she didn't have a class. I even went to her house one day after school to help her garden and to see her home clay studio. I think the bond I had with this woman really enhanced my relationship with ceramics and my artistic side in general. My advanced ceramics class was absolutely incredible. I was one of only eight students to take the class, and we were allowed to make basically whatever we wanted as long as we used the skills we were taught that week by Mrs. Allen. Everyone in the class took ceramics just as seriously as I did, and I actually had competition in being the best in the class.
The best feeling I have ever experienced is bringing home a mug I have made in ceramics and being able to use it for tea and hot chocolate. The feeling of something I made being incorporated into my day and fitting perfectly in my own hands is inexplicably satisfying and comforting to me.
I have recently signed up for a pottery class that starts this Wednesday at the South County Art Association, because I can't go any longer without working with clay or I may lose my mind. It's my only outlet for stress since I had to stop running my junior year, and I can't wait to start it again. If I could, I would honestly make a career out of ceramics, but the clay and studio and kiln are far too expensive to afford on my own. Instead, I plan on making this a life-long hobby of mine and at least ending up with a small studio in my house. I want to share ceramics with everyone around me because it is an art form that anyone can love and do well in. I hope that the more formal setting of the Art Association will strengthen my skills and help make my plans about pursuing clay work in the future more concrete.
I like to think of my training as a journey, solely because the word ‘training’ complies with the physical aspects of the sport and leaves out the mental and emotional parts. My journey began when I was three years old. I don’t know what sort of discipline most children at that age are exposed to, but I can surely say that my upbringing was a bit unique. I learned that it is important to listen to your elders, or else. No one—especially not me—ever tested to see what would happen if rules were not obeyed. It was some sort of code of respect that was practiced but not necessarily understood.
I was in great physical condition from going to taekwondo three times a week, every week, year after year. There were an abundance of bumps and bruises along the way, and as I got older, several broken bones. I tend to reason that you give some and take some, and I would break those bones all over again if it meant that I got to keep the lessons I learned. I never would have the confidence I have today if it weren’t for taekwondo.
Not everyone has what it takes to become a martial artist, but I knew deep down that I did. My master was from Korea and he had six stripes on his black belt. I admired him greatly for it; six out of nine possible stripes symbolized intense will power and many obstacles, but most of all: success. I wanted to prove to myself that I could achieve greatness too. I put in the work by attending class more frequently and spending one-on-one time with my master and fellow students.
I did have some natural ability in taekwondo but I was never the best. My best friend, Joseph, was always faster, bigger, and stronger than I was. He was—and still is—my inspiration. We have different strengths and weaknesses and we often would work together to better ourselves and each other. Taekwondo is mainly an individual sport, but we united.
I have been training for about fifteen years. There has been a moment of weakness or two where I have wanted to give up; taekwondo takes a toll on the mind and body. It is taxing and time-consuming. Many people earn their black belts and give up. I am eternally grateful that I stuck with it to this day. When I was fifteen years old, I became the youngest fourth degree black belt in the United States Taekwondo Association. I sprained my wrist during the first part of the test, and finished the week after with a cast on in front of the Grand Master of the USTA. I represented my dojang nationally by achieving this rank at such a young age. That was the best day of my life. I learned that hard work pays off and that anything is possible with passion and perseverance.
I still practice taekwondo when I am home, and I got to expand my wisdom even further; for the past two years, I have had the pleasure of teaching the younger students in my dojang. They call me Instructor Victoria and I call them my Littles. They are my pride and joy, and I get to watch their journey as my master and elder peers watched me. I get the opportunity to instill good values in them at a young age; it is the taekwondo chain of events.
Once you get to a certain level of expertise, the cycle continues by passing your knowledge to the next generation. It is beautiful and almost unbelievable that I could make a difference in the lives of children as my mentors did for me. Teaching children, along with continuing my own training, makes me appreciate taekwondo and how it has shaped my life every day.
My main non-academic passion is playing soccer, which is something I know how to do well. About two years ago, I started watching professional soccer. My good friend from high school had been a fan, so I tagged along in watching a game on an occasion. Overnight, I fell in love with the sport. Professional soccer is on the rise in the United States, and it felt great to become part of the fan movement. Of course, the urge to play in addition to watching was inevitable. It was only a year later that I was playing on my high school’s varsity team, enjoying every step of the way.
Naturally, the athletes I watched play the beautiful game inspired me. I would watch players like Ronaldinho dance through defenses and run outside and try to duplicate his moves. I began to dedicate countless hours to trying to play like my professional idols. I would try to make it outside at least once a day so I could practice everything I saw the pros do on television. I have vivid memories of sweltering summer days being spent practicing each skill repeatedly. I can remember setting up cones in the poring rain, and taking touches with both the inside and outside of my feet to weave in and out between them. The time I spent practicing was indispensable to me. Certainly there could be no better way to spend my time than by training to be like my idols, all the while getting exercise.
Although soccer is my passion, I am by no means a great player. Expertise implies ability near perfect, and I would be lying if I said I was an expert soccer player. Without a doubt I strive to be the best that I can be, and improving consistently is something that I will always be able to do. However, I wasn’t the star of my high school team nor do I see myself as the star on my current intramural team. However, the desire to want to improve and the joy the sport brings me motivate me to keep training. As the legend David Beckham once said, “Soccer is a magical game”.
Ever since elementary school science was my favorite subject. learning about how the earth worked in earth science and how our bodies and ecosystems worked in biology really made me exited about learning. I can remember watching shows like Dexter's laboratory, and Jimmy Neutron made me picture myself as a scientist working on crating new machines and having similar adventures as them. I also learned about real people and other great scientists such as Nicholas Copernicus and Charles Darwin and was fascinated by them and what they did to the world. I don't know for certain when this interest in science really developed because I always remember having it. Even my Mother can remember asking me what I wanted to do when I grew up to hear some cute cliche childhood career like astronaut or veterinarian. She was shocked to hear a third grader say that he wanted to be a paleontologist or a marine biologist to study the shark's Ampullae of Lorenzini which was a sharks electroreceptor system. I believe that my whole childhood was a accumulation of outside sources that contributed into my interest of science.
I can only remember loving the subject of science more and more as the years went on because of each one of my science teachers. I can always remember having a few bad Math, English, or History teachers but never a bad science teacher. Every teacher I've ever had had seemed to love what they do and the subject and all seemed to be just a little bit crazy and exiting which only fueled my growing interest and love of the subject. In high school was one of the first times I ever struggled with a science class which was AP Chemistry. My teacher for that class, now that I look back at high school with the knowledge of education I have, was the only teacher I had that enforced deep learning in his students and understanding rather than repetition and memorization. I believe that because of this I had the most difficulty in that class but loved that class the most. Although Chemistry is one of the more difficult area of science for me I love doing it and even had obtained a minor in it because I love it and not because it will be an easy A.
This is how my school years and my teachers, as well as other influences such as historical and fictional figures have all contributed to my love for science. When I was choosing my major for college I knew it was going to involve science however I didn't know which field I most wanted to get into. After a long process of searching for college majors I choose Microbiology because I developed a curiosity of inter cellular mechanics through AP Biology. With this interest I hope to one day use my major and future masters to get into a research program or attend PA school to become a physician's assistant. In my first year of college I've realized that a career path in this field will be very difficult to pursue, however I still have no doubts that I still want to go down this path.
Starting from a young age my parents tried to instill the importance of helping others in me. They always had my brothers and I do events to help out other people in the community. I have always loved helping people when they need it. My favorite volunteer activity was working two summers at Camp Sunshine, a camp for the homeless kids in my town. I was not making any money but I still got up everyday excited to help the kids and get to work. If it was possible I would have volunteered there my entire life. I did not mind not getting paid for the hard work I was doing because helping the kids was worth more than money. In addition to volunteering at Camp Sunshine for two years, I had many other volunteer activities such as the Walk for Hospice, Boston Marathon, working in a soup kitchen, raising money for the jolly jaunt, being a councilor at Lets Play Sports, and so on. Out of all these activities Camp Sunshine was the most influential.
Volunteering at Camp Sunshine is one of the main reasons that I picked my major as Human Development Family Studies. I want to continue to help kids my entire life either through social work or teaching. Both of these career fields will allow me to positively impact someones life. Although I will not be volunteering in these jobs, I will be helping people and that is the main idea behind volunteering.
I will always keep the value of helping others close to my heart. Through my lifestyle choices, career, and attitude towards others, helping people will always be a priority to me. The qualities and life lessons I have obtained through volunteering will stay with me a life time.
People matter to me. This may sound general and common from person to person, but mental health of others is what I value over anything else in my life. Just the other day I was going through the process to become apart of a sorority along side with nearly 600 other girls, and a friend of a friend, a complete stranger to me, was quiet upset because she was not asked to revisit the sororities that she had wishes to revisit and yes to many this sound like a first world problem and in many ways it is, but I helped her through it. I told her that "you shouldn't be upset over a sorority who doesn't want you cause they just aren't able to recognize how special you are." I gave this sweet young lady a hug and told her that she was beautiful and those sororities don't deserve her if they can't see that too. The girl that I actually knew didn't even give her a hug, instead she suggested that she go speak to one of the sorority recruitment councilors, she didn't want to deal with her friend being upset so she decided to just push her off to someone else to deal with. I know how that feels on the receiving end, and the answer is not very good, nor is my friend practicing particularly good communication skills.
I got to this place in my life where I feel a level of comfort with who while I used to be the complete opposite, lacking self confidence and full of anxiety. I understand how great it feels when you are able to make real connections at times where may feeling uncomfortable. So through my experiences of discomfort in high school and I realized it is often hard to do this for yourself you aren't going to ask a stranger for hug when your already in tears but if you offer one to a stranger in tears then its not as weird. I think it is important that we surround ourselves with people who have a positive impact on our lives so I try to be that person for others when I can. My expertise is reading situation arounds me and helping healing those who need it.
Although this may sound weird or out there to some people but when I can see that it is received as being kind. It is amazing to be able to improve someone else's well being. Perhaps this is why I want to become a teacher. Its the most beautiful thing when you have the power to change someones life, even if it just for a day.